Legacy Of Heroes: Origins
by Cmartin-Panda Productions
Summary: This story tells the tale from the moment Gohan and Videl first arrived into the Shinobi world. Follow along with them as they travel with Naruto and Jiraiya to fight the Akatsuki, bandits and pirates that will lead up to the main story. WARNING: It is recommended that you read the main story-Legacy of Heroes-first before reading this. Rated M for swearing and suggestive themes.
1. Chapter 1

**So, here is something that me and Panda had been working on. Just a short story explaining the events that took place before the start of Legacy of Heroes. Hope you all enjoy, it will definitely tie everything together well.**

* * *

On the crisp, late summer morning, the warm breeze blew through the many trees in the area. Many wild song birds chirped their songs and the morning dew dripped off the leaves of trees and various plant life. All was tranquil in this late summer morning, but one young man was growing restless from lack of things to do.

"Come on! Can't we do something other than watch you peep on women..." The young man groaned.

He walked side by side with an older man with long white hair.

"It's for my research I told you. Jeez... You'd think for the time you've been out here you'd realize what that means, Naruto."

"That you're just as perverted as they come?" Naruto said.

"Hey, you gotta cater to your audience. And I am nothing if not a servant of the people." Jirayia heroically stated.

"More like the biggest Letcher in the world..." Naruto muttered.

Jirayia choose to ignore his naive young pupil and focus on the leisurely stroll ahead. The two of them had been on the road training Naruto for the past 3 years. And they had promised to return to their home, the Hidden Leaf Village, in a month's time. For now, though, they were focused on their unofficial mission: a series of local small coastal towns in Water country were being harassed by a major league pirate gang. The nation's Mist ninjas were in the closing days of their own civil war and we're unable to intervene on what they called small and local affairs. Leaving the two wandering Shinobi a golden opportunity to go from village to village scaring off the rowdy pirates in exchange for room and board.

As they ventured down the road, getting near the next town, Jiraiya felt something that made him stop in his tracks.

"Why'd you stop?" Naruto asked.

"Something feels off..." Jiraiya said grimly.

"What do you mean?"

"It's something in the air... It fells... heavy all of a sudden..."

That was when Naruto felt it, too. The air suddenly felt thick with an odd energy about it and arcs of static electricity formed around some nearby bushes.

"What the hell is that..." Naruto asked.

The static grew more intense. So much that the two of them had to back away as small pebbles started to levitate.

As they watched on, they saw a black, swirling circle start to form, slowly growing bigger.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know." Jirayia replied. In all his 50+ years, he had never encountered anything like this...often.

The object then grew to the size of a person very quickly, bolts of static electricity arcing all around it.

"Don't get too close... Whatever it is, it's not safe." Jiraiya said. Before either one of them knew it, a container of some sort flew out of the black object and landed in front of them.

"Bomb!" Naruto shouted as the two of them leapt backwards. A few seconds later when the container didn't explode, the two shinobi breathed a sigh of relief.

A few seconds later, something else came through and landed at their feet.

"WAH!" Naruto yelled as he jumped back, only to notice that it was a person.

"It's... a girl..." Jiraiya said in shock. But then one more person flew from what seemed like a portal and landed next to the girl, both of them seemingly unconscious. The other person had gravity defying black hair and a massively muscular tone, whereas the girl had long black hair and a petite frame.

Soon after, the portal was gone, only a small black puff of smoke remained until it fizzled out.

"What the fuck just happened?" Naruto said in confusion.

"Teleportation jutsu, probably. Although like none I've ever seen." Jirayia said as he scanned their surroundings. Naruto meanwhile produced a blanket from his backpack and covered the mysterious girl.

 _'She's actually pretty cute.'_ Naruto thought.

"Hey kid, what did you do that for? It's not even cold out here." Jirayia pointed out.

"I'm making sure you don't get distracted ogling her and focus on helping them." Naruto explained, having long figured out his master.

"Bah, you don't know what you're talking about. Just grab the girl and I'll grab her brother and we'll get them off the road." Jirayia scoffed.

Jiraiya worked on lifting a muscular man, only to find that he couldn't lift him.

"Damn! This guy weighs a ton!" Jiraiya grunted.

"What? Is age finally catching up with you, Pervy Sage?" Naruto mocked as he hoisted the girl up into a princess carry.

"I'm serious! I can't lift him!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

"Yeah right. What's the plan? You want us to switch so that you can grope her and I carry the heavier guy? No thanks, we've been down that road and now we can't go back to the Land of Lightning." Naruto ranted.

"Find out for yourself then!" Jiraiya said indignantly.

Naruto rolled his eyes and made a quick cross with his fingers while holding the girl to create his signature technique; the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

A clone then poofed to life and walked over to help Jirayia lift up the unconscious young man.

The clone Naruto lifted, only to find that the man wouldn't budge from the ground.

"Holy crap, the Perv is right, Boss. I think this guy is made of gold he is so heavy.

 _'I wonder...'_ Naruto thought. "Check to see if he's wearing weights."

The Naruto clone preformed a quick pat down.

"Yup, found some. Looks like his boots and wrist bracelets." The clone reported.

Jiraiya slid off one of the wrist bands and it fell from his hand with a large thud and made a small crater in the ground.

"Holy shit... Do you know how much weight would cause something to make a hole like that?" Jiraiya said in shock.

"Uhhhh, 100 pounds?" Naruto guessed.

"Try over a ton..." Jiraiya deadpanned.

"What? How do his arms not fall off?" Naruto exclaimed as he re-examined the boy.

Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders. "Look at Lee and Gai. They use some pretty heavy weights."

"Yeah, but nothing nearly that heavy. The most I've seen Lee ever wear were 250 pounders, and that caused Gai to tell Lee to tone it down."

"Wherever these two came from, they have a lot to explain." Jiraiya said. He and the clone removed the remaining weighted clothes and now Jiraiya was able to carry him.

They took them to a nearby field where Jirayia inspected them and found nothing physically wrong with them. The two then decided to set up a campsite and wait for the two strangers to wake up.

Within a half an hour they had logs for seats and a roaring fire going just in time for the sun to go down.

Naruto lost the game of rock paper scissors and had to go catch dinner. Leaving Jirayia alone to watch over the two teenagers.

The something caught Jiraiya's eye. It was a small brown pouch attached to the man's belt.

 _'Now what do we have here?'_ Jiraiya thought as he silently walked over towards the unconscious boy. Normally he would never pry into another man's personal belongings, but these two had too many questions hanging about them that it peaked Jirayia's curiosity.

Jiraiya removed the pouch and opened it up. He had expected money or some form of ID, but instead he found...

 _'Beans?'_

They were green beans, in fact they looked exactly like lima beans.

 _'Boy gets hungry I guess.'_ Jiraiya said as he put the bag back on the boy's belt. His eyes then turned towards the female.

 _'Hmm... A little on the skinny side. Pretty decent size chest, though.'_ He thought as he looked at the girl. Then he noticed some kind of pin on her oversized white shirt. He looked over to read what was written on the pin.

 _'Orange Star High School... Never heard of it. Must be from outside the Elemental Nations.'_

Upon further inspection, he saw that on the top of the pin was a name. "V. Satan" It read.

That's when Naruto returned with a long string of fish.

"I'm back!" He shouted.

"YOW!" Jiraiya shouted as he fell over backwards. "Dammit! Stop doing that!"

"Oh relax Pervy Sage, I got dinner." Naruto proudly declared.

They were brought out of their interaction when they heard the man moaning, seemingly coming to.

"Ah... Looks like we'll get some answers now." Jiraiya said.

The man tossed and turned briefly before shooting up to a sitting up position. He screamed in horror as he broke out into a cold sweat. He shook his head a few times and tried to process what just happened.

"Oh man... Worst dream, ever..." He muttered.

"Hey, are you alright?" Jirayia asked, trying to gain the boy's attention.

"Huh? W-what?" The man said in confusion. He looked up to see a young boy and an older man with long white hair. "Um... Yea, I guess. Who are you?"

"Well I am the gallant Jirayia and this here is Naruto, my pupil. Can you tell us your name or where you are from?"

"Um... I'm Gohan. And... I just came from Capsule Corp in West City..." Gohan said as he tried to piece everything together. Then it all hit him like a ton of bricks. "W-where am I?"

"You're in the southern isles of the Land of Water. We found you and your sister over there unconscious after you fell out of a portal on the roadside. You're lucky we did. These lands aren't exactly the friendliest nowadays." Jirayia explained. Naruto meanwhile figured he might as well get dinner started. He excused himself to set the fish up around the campfire.

"Sister?" Gohan asked. Jiraiya pointed to the girl next to him and Gohan chuckled. "She's not my sister. She's a friend of mine from school."

"Is that so? My mistake. You two looked similar what with the hair shade. But never mind that. So where is this West city. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it is west of here." Jirayia chuckled at his own little joke while Naruto returned to their seats near the campfire.

"Um... Perhaps you should sit down..." Gohan said, remembering how he got here in the first place.

"Don't mind if we do, for it is our campsite." Jirayia said. He and Naruto then took a seat. Naruto being strangely quiet for the hyperactive teen. Mostly he was just trying to get a read on Gohan. For some reason he reminded Naruto of his old friend Kiba from back in the Leaf, but he couldn't place why.

"That portal you said we came through was actually man made. I went to see a family friend a little while before finding myself here and she had this machine that could create portals. She called it a Dimensional Teleporter. You see, she's one of the world's top scientists and she created this machine that could let someone or something travel between dimensions. But, something went wrong and both me and Videl here got sucked in." Gohan explained.

"Woah hold on, back up." Naruto said quickly, this guy had completely lost him. "Machines using jutsus, dimensions, other worlds? What are you talking about?"

"Jutsus? What's that?" Gohan asked.

"HUH?! As ripped as you are with your heavy ass weights and you don't know what a Jutsu is?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock.

"Seriously, what rock have you been living under, kid? Cause you need to stop bench pressing it." Jirayia added.

"Can't say that I do, honestly. But, whatever a jutsu is, that's not what got us here. It was, in all sense of the word, science. No jutsu or special technique involved really." Gohan said. "And as far as my physical condition, this comes from years' worth of martial arts training."

 _'So he's like Lee then.'_ Naruto thought.

"You've got machines that can teleport people? What nation are you from?" Jirayia asked, for he knew the Leaf and every other ninja village would kill to get their hands on that kind of technology.

"Nation? Um... I don't know what you mean. Perhaps you missed the part where I said that we came from another dimension." Gohan said.

"Ah... So, nowhere around here then..." Jiraiya mused.

"I call bullshit." Naruto said. "If you are from another dimension, then why do you look human? Shouldn't you be an alien?" Naruto said, evident that he had been reading too many comic books.

"Do you even know what a dimension is?" Jirayia asked.

"Its... a type of planet, right?" Naruto asked.

"Close. It's basically your entire universe, but an alternative version of it." Gohan said simply.

"Oh..." Naruto said sheepishly.

"But, you aren't... entirely wrong about the alien part..." Gohan said nervously.

"What are you talking about? You are human right?" Naruto asked.

"Only half human, actually..." Gohan then took in a deep breath and sighed. "MY dad was a full blooded alien of a species known as Saiyan's. They look a lot like humans, but they are far stronger."

"Saiyan, huh? Never heard of them." Naruto stated.

"I doubt you would have. Being in a different universe, there probably isn't any here."

"Not that I've ever met any. I've been all over the elemental nations and I've never met a being that went by that name." Jirayia stated.

"Is she one of those Saiyan's too?" Naruto asked as he pointed to Videl.

"No, she's human. That I'm certain of." _'I think...when I transferred my Super Saiyan power to her, her eyes also changed when her hair did. Only Goten and Trunks did that...'_ Gohan added in his thoughts.

"So then how did you two come to be together?" Jirayia asked in a perverted voice.

"W-w-what?!" Gohan stammered as his face turned red. "W-we're not together! She came to train with me!"

"Ok, ok, calm down." Jirayia teased. _'He's into her. Wonder if I could turn that into a book? A sci-fi romance...a half alien boy and a girl lost in another dimension. Desperate to get home and to understand the passion in their own hearts...genius.'_

 _'What are you talking about?'_ Gohan said into Jiraiya's mind.

Jirayia then looked at Gohan with renewed intrigue. _'You can read minds?'_

 _'Oh... Yea sorry about that...'_ Gohan thought sheepishly.

"No worries. Just be mindful of it on the future."

"Right."

"So do you have Yamanaka's in your dimension by any chance?" Jirayia asked.

"Who?" Gohan asked.

"A famous clan from our village. They specialize in mind based jutsus." Jirayia stated.

"Yeah, my classmate Ino is a part of that clan. She's always sticking her nose in other people's business." Naruto added.

"No... I learned telepathy from my teacher, Piccolo. He's better at it than I am, but it's natural to his kind." Gohan said.

"Piccolo, is he a Saiyan too?" Jirayia asked again, this whole conversation had gone on so long that the fish had started to catch fire.

"Shit!" Naruto cried as he sprinted over to save their dinner.

"No, he's not. But he is of another alien race known as Namekians." Gohan corrected.

"Dammit! All that fish, gone to waste..." Naruto said sadly.

"I can help with that." Gohan said as he jumped to his feet.

"What? You've got some time reversal jutsu that can go back and save the fish?" Naruto wondered, his childlike mind growing more excited as he finished talking about it.

"Hahaha, no. I'm going to catch some more fish. Bigger ones than those." Gohan said as he headed to the lake nearby.

"Hey, you don't have to do that! You're injured and our guest. I'll just catch some more." Naruto stated as he ran up being Gohan.

"Heh, this is nothing. I've been in far worse shape than this." Gohan scoffed as they both reached the lake. It was a fairly wide lake in the middle of one of the Isles of Water's many large islands. One of the few freshwater sources in the area and the source of the river that flowed into the ocean. The lake also happened to be one of the deepest in the world. Earning it the nickname; Demon's Pit. None of this mattered to Naruto or Gohan however, as they were more interested in what kind of tasty fish it held.

"Suit yourself. More fish to go around." Naruto said as he stripped off his jacket, soon he was down to his boxers; plus, his kunai leg belt and his green crystal necklace. His headband his untied and gently laid it down on his clothes.

"Hold on a second." Gohan said as he looked around the lake. He couldn't see much from his current spot, so, he started levitating off the ground and quickly launched up into the sky above the lake where he could get a better view.

"Holy shit! Are you flying!?" Naruto shouted.

Gohan sweat dropped at his mistake. _'No sense of denying it.'_ "Yup" Gohan said simply as he looked around for a fish. Then he found the perfect one. "There's a good one." He quickly dove down into the water, nearly creating a tidal wave when he hit.

Within 30 seconds, Gohan resurfaced with a single bass held up by its tail.

"Hey Naruto!" Gohan called out.

"What?"

"What's up with this lake? I swam around and this was the biggest one I could find!"

"That's as big as they get! I'm more surprised that you can fly!" Naruto called back.

"I'll tell you about it later. Let me get some more fish!" Gohan called back as he tossed the fish at Naruto. He caught it, but the excess force behind the fish knocked him into a tree.

"Sorry!" Gohan called.

Naruto shook his head and stood back up without a problem.

"No worries. Quite an arm you've got there. You a shinobi back in your world?" Naruto asked as he made a cross sign and 50 Naruto clones instantly appeared.

"Don't know what that is, but, that copy technique you just used is pretty cool. But, doesn't it take away from your energy reserves?"

"It does, but I've got such a large reserve that it hardly matters." Naruto explained as he strung up Gohan's fish with string to keep the dirt off it.

"Alright ya'll! Get to it!" Naruto commanded as 50 Naruto clones stormed the lakes surface. But instead of diving in like Gohan imagined, the clones began to run on water, spreading out to the various sports on the lake. When they reached their destination the clones just stood there on the water's surface looking down for fish.

"That's pretty neat. Hey, let's see who can catch the most fish first!" Gohan challenged.

"You sure? I've got an army and a three fish head start on you already." One of the Naruto clones bragged, much to the cheers of his dozens of clone brothers.

"Yup. Just give one-" Gohan cut himself off as he flashed out of sight. Down below, he was moving at speeds Naruto had never seen before and within a second, Gohan emerged with a massive amount of fish. "-second."

"Oh hell no! Boys, get after him!" Naruto shouted. All his clones nodded and made a pencil dive into the lake below.

"I don't think you'll find many more. This lake has slim pickings." Gohan said as he floated over the lake and back to shore with his catch.

Naruto whistled at Gohan's haul. Two handfuls of big fat trouts and catfish.

"That's a good catch, but let me give you some advice for this world, Gohan." Naruto said as half the fish Gohan held by their tails exploded into smoke. When they cleared, Gohan was holding two Naruto clones by their ankles.

"Never underestimate a ninja." Naruto smirked as half a dozen of his other clones came out of the lake with their own catches of bass.

"That's interesting." Gohan said simply, seemingly unimpressed by that sudden realization.

"Yup, better luck next time." Naruto teased as he had his clones throw half of their catch back into the lake.

"Let's get back to camp and cook these up. Before Pervy Sage tries to flirt with that girl you were with." Naruto said. Gohan shrugged and watched as all but two of the clones exploded into a plume of smoke, which dissipate like it was never there to begin with. He then followed Naruto back to camp with their catch being carried by the two Naruto clones.

"He better not!" Gohan said defensively from seemingly nowhere.

"Woah man, chill out. Pervy Sage is a Super Mega Pervert, but even he has standards...I think..." Naruto defended.

"Oh boy... He better not, because if she wakes-"

"TOUCH ME AGAIN AND I'LL KILL YOU!" Came a loud, feminine screech.

"And, she's awake..." Gohan sighed.

"God damn it. It's like with the Princess of Lightning all over again." Naruto grumbled to himself.

"Don't know who that is, but Videl usually lives up to her threats." Gohan warned as he started walking back to camp.

"It would take too long to explain. But if we ever run into Cloud ninjas, just don't use our real names." Naruto warned cryptically

"Okay..."

"So, you're really fast, you can freaking fly and you're really strong. What else you got up your sleeve?" Naruto asked.

Gohan smirked as he took one of his fish and tossed it up in the air. "Watch this. HA!" Gohan shot out a small yellow beam from his hand and cooked the tossed fish to perfection. It fell back down and Gohan caught it with his free hand. "How's that?"

"That is so freaking cool. It's like you've got lightning or fire in your palms." Naruto said in awe.

"Well, it's neither. It's your body's natural energy called Ki." Gohan said.

"Ki? Is that anything like Chakra?" Naruto asked.

"I don't really know what Chakra is so I couldn't tell you. But it is the same energy I used to fly." Gohan explained.

"Well chakra is the energy that I use to conjure up jutsus like my Shadow Clones and the transformation to fish like you saw. Also to walk on water or up trees without using my hands." Naruto said as he leapt up to a nearby branch and hung upside down for a second so that Gohan could see his point. "It comes from within us as well."

"Hmm... Yea, but I bet its safer to use. Ki, if not properly controlled, can be very destructive. Those who have a large enough Ki reserve can destroy anything from a boulder, to a mountain, to a village, to a city, to a country and to a planet." Gohan said grimly. "It takes many years to control it correctly."

"Sounds a lot like chakra if I'm being honest." Naruto said as they heard trees splintering over at their campsite.

Jiraiya met them before they entered the campsite, rubbing his swollen cheek.

"That girl has a mean left hook..." Jiraiya grumbled.

"That's what you get for feeling me up you PERV!" Videl spat from the other side of the fire place.

"I was only trying to-"

"NO EXCUSES!" Videl shouted. Her old memories dangerously close to bubbling up, but she would not show weakness in front of that pervert.

Videl then laid eyes on Naruto and finally Gohan. "Gohan?"

"Hey, Videl. How you feeling?"

"Aside from getting groped by some old asshat, I'm okay for the most part." Videl said softly.

"Sorry about that, old Pervy Sage can be, well a major pervert." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Videl looked over at Naruto again, this time at a closer angle and realized something unsettling.

This guy was freaking hot!

Maybe it was the way he carried himself or how he reminded her a lot of Gohan just judging by his dopy mannerisms, but he had a lot of good things going on. His face was handsome and playful, his smile was so huge and bright, the weird whisker tattoos on his cheeks were a bit off-putting, but somehow they worked for him. His skin was sun kissed but not overly tan, which complimented his swimmer beach physique. Videl could tell because Naruto had forgotten to put his shirt back on when he returned from the lake. Not quite on Gohan's level, but his body was nothing to be ashamed of.

To top it all off, the way he was positioned to Videl, with his head eclipsing the setting sun, his spiky blond hair glowed like it was made of sunshine. If Videl's friends were here they would be having nose bleeds, so Videl filled in for them in their absence.

"Videl, are you okay?" Gohan asked.

"Um, yea, why?" Videl said.

"Well you're bleeding." Naruto said as he wiped his nose to signal Videl to do the same. She did and was surprised to see blood smeared across her hand.

 _'Geez, this guy must be another Sasuke.'_ Naruto thought as he noticed that Gohan was standing next to him, also without a shirt on.

"Uh... Air must be dry I guess..." Videl blushed.

"Really? It's seems really humid to me." Gohan pointed out.

"J-just don't worry about it, okay?!" Videl snapped as she quickly turned around to avert her eyes from the two god like men.

"Gee, sorry, Videl... We were just worried is all." Gohan said.

 _'Oh this is just too perfect.'_ Jiraiya thought as quickly took down notes in his pocket notebook. _'A strange girl pulled between her loves of an old time friend and a mysterious stranger. Readers love a good love triangle.'_

"Where are we anyway? And what exactly happened? The last thing I remember was we were in Bulma's lab and that machine of hers went haywire." Videl said.

"That's pretty much the gist of things. Something went wrong with Bulma's machine and we both got sucked in."

"Oh man... My dad is going to blow a fuse if he learns I'm not around..." Videl groaned.

"Yea, I know how you feel. My mom is gonna go ballistic when she finds out what happened."

"And it's your fault that we're in this situation..." Videl growled.

"M-my fault?"

"YES! Your fault!"

"You didn't have to come with me."

"And let you run off and abandon my training?! Hell no!" Videl spat.

"So then why are you mad at me? I told you to stay back when she turned on the machine, but you had to get close to see it."

"Don't turn this around onto me, asshole! Super Saiyan or not, I'll still kick your ass!" Videl spat furiously.

"Super Saiyan?" Naruto and Jiraiya asked.

Videl immediately gasped as she just realized she blurted out Gohan's secret. "Gohan... I'm so sorry..."

"Don't worry about it. They already know I'm not completely human." Gohan waved off.

"It's no trouble, it is more common than you would think on this planet." Jirayia stated.

"Huh?" Gohan said.

"I for instance am half Toad. I was raised by the Toads of Mt. Myoboku until I could become the first Toad Sage! Gahaha!" Jirayia gallantly stated.

Gohan and Videl sweat dropped. "Is this guy for real...?" Videl deadpanned.

"No, he was raised normally like everyone else. He just stumbled across the mountain one day when he was a kid." Naruto dead panned.

"Hey brat, I was looking for the mountain. I didn't stumble across it." Jirayia defended himself.

"This is one weird day..." Videl said.

"Tell me about it."

"Coming from the half alien, that's saying a lot." Videl smirked.

"Tell _me_ about it. We were walking from town to town and then you two just plopped right out of a portal right in front of us. That kind of thing doesn't happen every day, ya know?" Naruto said.

"Oh no I hear ya. The whole him flying around saving people in my city was hard to believe. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that." Videl said.

"Wait, flying?" Jiraiya asked.

"Oh yea! Gohan here can fly! Says he uses this energy called Ki, whatever that is." Naruto said.

"KI?!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "Y-you're a Ki user?!"

"Um, yea... Is something wrong?" Gohan asked.

"Well yeah, there hasn't been a Ki user in our world since ancient times. Legend states that they were warriors who grew stronger with their rage. So the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths had to wipe them out a thousand years ago." Jirayia stated.

"Ki is triggered by anger, however, my... Dad... found out that Ki can also be used when having a calm mind. Others me and my friends and family have encountered have used Ki as a tool of rage and destruction, but we've developed it as an extension of ourselves. For instance," Gohan stopped and formed a ball of Ki in his hand. "This has enough concentrated energy to destroy a large rock. I can create ones stronger than this that could essentially destroy a city. the only difference is, I can channel my energy without rage, or emotion at all if need be."

"Fascinating, I imagine if you had arrived here a thousand years ago you would have taught the Ki users this method and prevented the need for their genocide. Or not, depending on how truthful our history textbooks are." Jirayia stated as took a catfish from Naruto and placed it near the fire pit to cook.

"Dammit, the fire's out..." Jiraiya complained.

"I got you covered." Gohan then pointed a single finger to the fire pit and fired a small, white beam powerful enough to reignite the flames.

"No hand signs or incantations; you are definitely a Ki user." Jirayia stated as he began roasting his catfish.

"Have been since I was 4, really." Gohan said simply as he set all of his fish down.

"That's around the time we start training our Shinobi in the art of ninjutsu; or mastering chakra." Jirayia informed as everyone else started setting up their fish.

"Ninjutsu? Ah, so you are ninja's huh? That's pretty cool." Videl said as she took a red snapper from Gohan's pile.

"Yup, it is pretty cool when you think about it." Naruto added as his attention was now fully focused on cooking his fish and how delicious it would taste.

"HA!" Gohan shouted as he emitted a Ki pulse that cooked all of his fish at one. Then, something that stunned all of them. He started devouring them at a pace totally unheard of.

 _'So the legends of the great Ki appetite were true.'_ Jiraiya thought to himself.

"Jeez Gohan, you're eating like an Akimichi, slow down." Naruto stated.

Gohan swallowed the fish in his mouth. "I eat like this all the time. It's a Saiyan thing." Gohan said.

"He's not lying... I've seen him eat like that at school all the time. I often wonder where he puts it all." Videl said as she moved onto another fish.

"Not in this world. Here we have a clan of fat ninjas that always eat like there is no tomorrow. Just don't ever say that to their faces, they hate to be called fat." Naruto warned.

"Well, if they can't handle the truth then maybe they should learn to put down their forks." Videl said harshly.

"Their clan specific jutsus require them to consume a large amount of calories at an extreme rate. If they went cold turkey and had no body fat to burn, their jutsus would eat away at their actual muscles." Jirayia informed them.

"Woah... That sounds bad." Gohan said, having similar problems with his own metabolism.

"I find that hard to believe." Videl scoffed.

"It actually isn't Videl. Saiyan's are similar in that aspect."

"So you can mind read like the Yamanaka's, you eat like the Akimichi's, next you'll be telling me is that you can nap like a Nara." Jirayia joked.

"I don't know what you mean." Gohan said.

"Wait a minute, you can mind read?" Videl asked.

"Yeah, what's that all about, Pervy Sage?" Naruto added.

 _'I have the ability to read minds and communicate telepathically.'_ Gohan said into Naruto's and Videl's minds.

"Gah!" Naruto shouted as he fell off his log.

"Woah!" Videl exclaimed.

"Don't ever do that again!" Naruto shouted.

"Sorry. You wanted to know." Gohan said as he returned to his fish.

"I just didn't think you would invade my mind so suddenly like that." Naruto said as he stood back up and sat back down.

"It's hard to do with someone who has a strong mind, but it was really easy on you for some reason. Like, I didn't even have to try..." Gohan pondered.

"That just means he's stupid." Jiraiya laughed.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted.

The group all shared a good laugh. Even Naruto got in on after deciding to be a good sport.

Their fish finally finished cooking and Naruto handed out the cooking spices he had sealed away in scrolls. Plus, flavored water packets for their canteens. Soon they had a little outdoor feast going on.

"So Gohan..." Jirayia began.

"Yea?"

"You said that you and Videl ended up here by accident. Does that mean you have no way of getting home?"

Videl's eyes went wide. "Gohan, please tell me we have a way to get home..." Videl begged.

Sadly, Gohan shook his head. "No... We're stuck here..." Gohan said glumly.

He had to watch as Videl's heart shattered right before him. Even Naruto and Jirayia looked distraught at the news. For they too knew the pain of losing your home in one form or another.

"Damn man, that sucks." Naruto said, not knowing what else to say.

"Y-you mean... All my friends... my dad... I won't see them again...?" Videl sobbed.

"I... Don't know, honestly." Gohan said.

Jirayia just sat there in silence. He had seen the look on Videl and Gohan's face one too many times. The face of a person who had lost everything. Who was just told the rug had been pulled out from under them without them ever realizing it. In all his 50 years he still didn't have a good word to say to them.

"No..." Videl cried as she broke down, sobbing harder than before. Gohan, doing what he did before, pulled Videl into a comforting embrace as he too fought back tears. He would never see his friends, his brother or his mother again and it tore him up. Videl accepted the gesture and cried into Gohan's chest, for the second time today.

 _'So much for that love triangle.'_ Jiraiya chuckled to himself. Not that his dimwitted pupil even knew he was in the running, but at least these two would have each other.

"Listen you two, I got a proposition for you if you're interested." Jirayia spoke up after giving the dimension hoppers a minute.

Videl continued to sob, but Gohan lifted his head up to signal Jiraiya to keep going.

"It's a small consolation, but if you two are willing to travel with us for a month, we can take you back to our village: The Village Hidden in the Leaves. I'm certain our Hokage would be willing to grant you both asylum for as long as it takes you both to find a way home." Jirayia offered.

"That's very generous of you, but I don't want to impose." Gohan said.

"Nonsense, we're practically our own city-state. We take in refugees all the time. Plus, you wouldn't even be refugees, you'd be our guests."

Gohan thought about it and then nodded. "We'd appreciate that. Because I don't think I could recreate the machine that sent us here in the first place."

"We have our own science R&D department in the Leaf. I doubt it's as advanced as anything you have back on your planet, but it is better than nothing." Jirayia added.

"It took Bulma 10 years to create the first one with the technology she had... I don't know how your world is to actually gauge a time span."

"I'm sorry, what?" Naruto asked. "You lost me."

"You seriously need to learn to pay attention, kid." Jiraiya stated.

"I've been paying attention, but what is a time span?"

"A time span is a certain length of time that events will or have taken place. The time from when an event starts to when it ends is the measurement of time of said event called a time span." Gohan explained.

 _'God, he is such a nerd... Why does he have to be so cute...'_ Videl thought.

"What was that?" Gohan asked.

"What was what?" Videl said.

"I thought you said something."

"No I didn't say a thing."

 _'Could have sworn she said something... Oh well...'_ Gohan thought.

"Well I meant what you meant by needing to gauge a time span?" Naruto asked.

"He means that he has no idea how long it would take him to recreate the machine with our technology." Jirayia explained as simply as he could.

"If I even can." Gohan added.

"Well, there is one way to tell." Videl said as she wiped her eyes. "Do you have computers? What about transportation, what do you have along those lines? And communication tech, how far along is that?"

"We communicate long distance by carrier birds. They range from doves to hawks. Transportation wise, we have steam trains and ships for cargo, but for personal transportation we have horse and carriage. I don't really know what a computer is." Jiraiya summed up.

Videl's last ray of hope was suddenly darkened by a new cloud of sadness.

"So, going by that, we're about 200 years more advanced than you are... That's a major problem..." Gohan said sadly.

"We also have short wave wireless hands-free radio if that helps." Naruto added in between bites of his fish.

"That doesn't seem out of the ordinary." Videl said sarcastically.

"What she means is, that's pretty advanced compared to the rest of your technology." Gohan said.

"Well I don't know how your society works, but that's how our produced our technology. By necessity." Jirayia said as he took a sip of lemon-lime flavored water.

"That makes sense. Our technology was developed for convenience and ease of living for the most part." Gohan said as he pulled out a thin, metallic object. "Huh... I still have my Capsule Case." Gohan said, which made Videl lighten up.

"A what case?" Naruto asked.

"Capsule." Gohan said as he took one out. "This little pill shaped object is like an extremely condensed suitcase. It can carry anything. From something as small as a pebble, to something as large as a cruise ship."

"Yeah right." Naruto scoffed.

Gohan smirked as he pressed the button on the top and tossed it. It bounced off the ground once and it made a loud pop and smoke appeared. Once the smoke cleared, a self-powered fridge appeared that was the size of a normal kitchen fridge.

"Impressive, it's like our sealing scrolls." Jirayia stated.

"I don't know what that is, but help yourself." Gohan said as he opened the fridge. In it were various drinks ranging from energy drinks, soda, water and beer. There was also food in there.

"Nice, I'll take a cherry vanilla cola if you got it." Naruto said.

"Hmm..." Gohan hummed as he looked around and found one can of cherry Vanilla cola. "It's the last one, you're lucky." Gohan said as he tossed the can to Naruto.

Naruto gleeful popped the top and savored the taste. His first soda in god knows how many months.

"Toss me a He-Tap." Videl said and Gohan did so.

"I'll take a beer if you don't mind." Jirayia said.

"Okay. Lager, Import or domestic?"

"Whatever's cold." Jirayia smirked.

"Fair enough." Gohan said as he handed the old sage a dark green bottle that read Yuengling on it.

"Thank you kindly." Jirayia said as he took a sip. _'Smooth.'_

"And I'll take a Jones soda. Mmmm... Mango..." Gohan said as he took out a bottle of orange colored soda.

"So, what else you got in that case?" Naruto asked.

"One sec." Gohan said and took a sip of his soda. "Um, let's see..." Gohan said as he looked through his capsules. _'House 1 and 2, the spaceship... hmm... that could come in handy later. My car, gravity chamber and training chest... I think I'll take out house 2 since it's the larger one and the training chest.'_ Gohan thought as he pulled out two capsules.

"So what are those?" Jiraiya asked.

"This one is a house-" Gohan was interrupted by Naruto laughing.

"A house? Yea right!" Naruto laughed.

"Don't scoff, kid. The first one had a fridge." Jiraiya said.

"Yeah but even our seals have limits. There is no way he has an entire house at the push of a button." Naruto replied.

"Wanna bet?" Videl smirked.

Gohan moved over to the more open area of their camp and tossed the capsule. Naruto sprayed his soda out of his mouth when he beheld the structure before him.

"God damn, you weren't kidding." Naruto exclaimed.

"Told you." Videl teased.

"We can use this instead of camping out. It's solar powered and has both heating and air conditioning." Gohan summed up.

"Uh, Gohan. How many bedrooms does this have?" Videl asked.

"Two, why?" Gohan replied.

"We appreciate it Gohan, but who said anything about camping?" Jirayia stated. The two newcomers to the universe raised their eyebrows to see what the Toad Sage was going on about.

"Isn't that what you're doing here?" Gohan asked.

Jirayia stepped over into a clearing next to Gohan's capsule house and bite his thumb.

"Summoning jutsu!" He cried as he ran through the hand signs and slammed his bleeding hand into the ground. The ground exploded with a massive plume of smoke and then just as quickly dissipated, leaving behind a cozy little cabin that appeared to be designed to look like a frog.

"That's kinda cute, but I like sleeping in a real bed with a lamp." Videl said.

 **"Hey, piss off. I've got all those and a god damn fireplace. (Ribbit)"** The cabin croaked at Videl.

"ACK! IT FUCKING TALKS!" Videl exclaimed

 **"Of course I talk. (Ribbit) What's the matter sweetcheeks, you've never met a Toad house before? (Ribbit)"** The cabin scoffed at her.

"My apologies you guys. This is Gamaterrance, my home away from home." Jirayia explained.

"What did you call me you-MMMHH!" Videl was cut off by Gohan placing his hand on her mouth.

"Forgive her. We're new to this universe and all of this is very new to us." Gohan said nervously.

"Understandable. She's not the first female to be overwhelmed when I brought her back to my place." Jirayia leered, which prompted Naruto to slap him upside the head.

 **"So do I have to accommodate these two? Cause I'm not sure I like the shorter brunette. (Ribbit)"** Gamaterrance sneered.

"It's okay. We have a portable house that you were summoned next to. We'll be fine." Gohan said as he tried to gently move Videl towards the house, but she was having none of that.

 _'Relax, Videl. This is a new place and new faces. you can't just snap at anyone who gives you a dirty look here.'_ Gohan said into her mind.

 **"Oh, and now I've got to be neighbors with that ugly thing? (Ribbit) What the heck, Jirayia? I've got standards you know!"** Gamaterrance said, pointing towards the Capsule house.

 _'I'm gonna kill him...'_ Videl thought back.

 _'Don't. Please. Just try to calm down. We know next to nothing about their culture and I sense they are very strong. You wouldn't be able to-'_ "GAAAH!" Gohan yelled as Videl kneed him in the nuts.

"Don't you EVER call me weak again!" Videl snapped and then she turned to face the frog. "As for you, you overgrown fly muncher! The best place for you is your legs served with a side of gravy!"

The two ninjas and the house gasped.

"Videl, don't! He was talking about your house!" Jirayia explained hastily.

 **"Overgrown fly muncher?! (Ribbit) Oh that's it! I'll show you where I can put my legs! (Ribbit)"** Gamaterrance shouted. His back legs then formed out of the stone work and kicked the sides of the capsule house. Leaving man-sized holes on the sides and roof of the tiny structure.

"Gamaterrance, no!" Jirayia shouted.

"Hey! That was MY house!" Gohan squeaked, his jewels still in a lot of pain.

"That's it, bug breath! You're mine!" Videl shouted as she began to charge.

"Hey hey HEY!" Jirayia shouted as he leapt in between Videl and Gamaterrance, his arms outstretched. "Let's all calm down!"

"Calm nothing! He is a self-centered prick that needs to be taught a lesson! He also destroyed Gohan's house!" Videl exclaimed

"You insulted him first!" Naruto shouted. "Plus, he's a Toad house. He doesn't know any better."

 **"Doesn't know any better? (Ribbit) That's it, I don't have to stand here and take this abuse. (Ribbit) I'm out of here!"**

"No, Gamaterrance, wait!" Jirayia shouted, but it was too late. Gamaterrance reverse summoned himself back to the Mountain of the Toads.

"How the hell did I insult him first?!" Videl spat

"You compared him to another house. He hates that. He has his pride as a living cabin. Plus, then you called him a fly muncher. That is like super offensive to them." Naruto explained.

"Well, excuse me for not knowing that houses here are fucking animals!" Videl spat.

"No they aren't. That was just one of the summons I use when I'm traveling out in the wilderness for months at a time. Now me and Naruto have to wait a week before he calms down and we can get our stuff back." Jirayia explained in an annoyed tone.

"And I suppose that's my fault too, huh?" Videl spat.

"Videl, please calm down." Gohan said.

"Look it doesn't matter now. The point is that now we've got to find another place to sleep tonight." Naruto intervened.

"You can shut the hell up, Gohan!" Videl said furiously. "You know I hate being called weak!"

"But I didn't-"

"YOU IMPLIED IT!" Videl screamed as tears started to form. "You of all people should know how that makes me feel!" She then broke down sobbing as the memories from earlier that day came back to her.

The two Shinobi backed up. They had both dealt with strong women enough to know that Gohan had touched a nerve.

"Ok, listen. We've all clearly had a rough day. You two especially. There is a town maybe two miles away from us that is ready to offer me and Naruto two rooms for the night. I'm certain we can convince them to offer up two more and then we can sort thing out tomorrow with clearer heads. Does that sound good?" Jirayia offered.

"I don't fucking care either way..." Videl sobbed.

"Videl... Listen, I'm sorry, I d-"

"Didn't mean to? IS that what you were going to say?!" Videl snapped. "Don't give me that bullshit! You knew right from the get-go... So don't go giving me any of your excuses, jackass!"

Naruto and Jirayia then realized that they weren't a part of this conversation between these two and decided to give them their space. They went a hundred yards off into the field. Keeping within sight, but out of hearing range. Well, for the most part.

"Of ALL people I could get sent to another universe with, I get you! Yea, I get you are really the one who saved the world from Cell and that you have the power to destroy a solar system if you wanted to, but you really are a spineless pussy when you aren't battling to save the world!" Videl shouted.

Over with Jirayia and Naruto. The two shinobi were having their own private conversation.

"Pervy Sage, are you certain that you want to bring those two back to the Leaf? The girl especially seems unstable. Seriously, she makes Sakura-chan and Granny Tsunade look well-adjusted by comparison." Naruto whispered to Jirayia.

* * *

Two countries away, back in the Leaf, Tsunade and her apprentice both sneezed while they were elbow deep in open heart surgery.

"Bless you." Shizune said as she stood on standby for Sakura.

"Thanks." Sakura replied. _'Why do I feel like punching Naruto?'_ She thought to herself. It was strange, her thoughts seemed to turn to him more and more often as the days leading up to his return drew closer.

"Sakura, pay attention!" Tsunade instructed.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Sakura replied before returning her attention back on her surgery clamps.

* * *

Back in the Isles of Water.

"We have to Naruto. Because like it or not, we need to secure their powers and technology for the Leaf. This isn't a friendly world Naruto. If we don't offer them help, someone else will. Someone with more sinister intentions that could take advantage of those two. No matter how pure they may be, they are naive about this world." Jirayia explained.

"So we're using them all the same?" Naruto said bitterly. He hated the thought of tricking other people like that.

"If you want to think of it that way. With any luck they will find a way back home before either side can use them to shake things up. Until then, I'm not about to leave two lost souls out on their own in a strange new world." Jirayia stated. Naruto nodded in approval. He didn't always show it, but these moments made him really proud to be the old pervert's student.

"I'm sorry! Really I am!" Gohan pleaded.

"Stop apologizing!" Videl snapped. "That's your problem. You apologize way too much. As strong as you are, you are a big fucking pansy! Did you apologize to Cell when he killed your dad?" Videl spat, then immediately slapped her mouth shut. "Gohan, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to say that..."

"That was a very low blow, Videl..." Gohan said grimly. "How dare you... You know that losing my dad was the worst thing I had even gone through..."

"Should we...intervene...?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

Gohan looked up to meet Videl's eyes. His own glowing teal with rage. Videl saw the rage and hatred in Gohan's eyes and knew she fucked up bad.

"Gohan... I'm really sorry."

"OH, so it's okay for you to apologize when you stick a knife in my back, but god forbid I apologize over a misunderstanding?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" Gohan yelled as a golden aura started forming around him.

"Holy shit... Do you feel that?" Naruto whispered in shock.

"I do. Stand ready. This Ki user might be the real deal." Jirayia said as he dropped down in his defensive stance, prompting Naruto to do the same. They had to be ready for anything.

"It just keeps going up! How strong is he?!"

"At least at a Tail Beast's level! Just hold on!" Jirayia shouted back.

"Gohan... Please, you're scaring me..." Videl whimpered in fear.

That tone in Videl's voice was enough to snap Gohan out of his rage. His aura subsided and his eyes returned to normal. He looked at Videl who was cowering in fear before him and he suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. He looked down to see his hands trembling as he tried to hold it all in. He then dropped to his knees, panting heavily in fright.

"W-what have I done... I never used my powers to scare people..." Gohan shuddered.

"Are you two alright?" Naruto called our as he and Jirayia ran back over to Gohan and Videl's side.

Videl ignored them as she pulled Gohan into her own embrace to calm him down. "It's alright... I'm sorry I was acting like a bitch to you..." Videl said softly.

"I-I'm sorry too. I don't know what came over me. I just..."

"Shhhh... It's okay... I understand..." Videl said softly as she rubbed his back.

Gohan just stayed silent. Letting the feeling of Videl's touch sooth him. Her gentle massage penetrated his aching back muscles with a kind of calming warm. Like his mother used to give him when he calmed down after a temper tantrum (after she had finished yelling of course). It was nice.

 _'Like two raging storms meeting together in their calm centers. If these two don't get together at some point, I will kill off the leading lady in my books.'_ Jiraiya thought to himself.

Gohan picked his head up and he meet Videl's eyes. Onyx black meeting cerulean blue, as their eyes sparkled in the setting sun. both of them were suddenly lost in each other's eyes as they both grew calmer. Without either one realizing it, their heads started to inch closer to the other, as if they were magnetically drawn together.

 **KA-CRACK! CRASH!**

The two were suddenly awoken from their trance by a large tree finally being knocked over. It having been loosened by Gohan's energy pressure not moments ago.

The two teens quickly composed themselves and pulled away from each other, not knowing what just happened.

"T-thanks, by the way..." Gohan said in an embarrassed tone.

"Don't mention it..." Videl said, equally embarrassed.

"Okay!" Jirayia clapped his hands to get their attention. "So about that small town hotel room offer..."

"Um... S-sure... why not." Videl said.

"Good, let's get going. It's already dark and we wouldn't want to deprive the local bandits the chance to try and rob us before we go to bed." Jirayia joked.

He then shuffled Naruto and the rest back on to the road. Jiraiya knew that every chakra user from here to the ninja villages would have sensed Gohan's massive energy signature, and it never paid to stand around and wait for the kind of attention that attracted.

"Bandits, huh?" Videl asked. "Why doesn't anyone do something about that?"

"Long story. It's actually part of the reason Naruto and myself were traveling along these roads." Jirayia said as they made their way back onto the trodden dirt path.

"Well, we'll be glad to help if you want." Gohan offered as he put the capsule house away.

"That'll probably make asking for extra rooms easier. But let's focus on getting to the town first. M'kay?" Jirayia said hastily. The group then made their way down the road and over to the town, the start of their new adventure awaiting them.

* * *

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away. A handsome young man was being aroused from his bed room and summoned to his master's chambers. The boy was awoken by a silver haired man with full moon spectacles and a love of morally grey medical experiments.

"Right this way, Sasuke." Kabuto said with mock respect. It was no secret to the rest of the staff that Kabuto saw himself as his master's number two and secretly loathed the young Uchiha for taking up so much of their master's time and praise.

"Hn." Sasuke replied with disinterest. He entered the dimly lit chamber of his master's private study, where the old Snake Sannin sat on a kind of makeshift throne. Sasuke knew this could only be about sending him on a mission of sorts if the old snake was willing to put on his Otokage facade.

"What do you want, Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked point blank.

"My dear Sasuke-kun. Is that anyway to talk to your master who brought you into my inner circle as my pupil? Gave you a place to live? A place to grow stronger? Perhaps I wish only to see my young apprentice and ask you about your progress in training?" Orochimaru spoke like poisoned butter.

"Save it snake. You're here to asking me about the massive chakra level you sensed no doubt." Sasuke deduced.

"You felt that too? Impressive, I see that your chakra sensing lessons from Karin have proven fruitful." Orochimaru chuckled.

"Get to the point." Sasuke stated impatiently.

"Ah yes, very well. That energy signature you sensed has caused quite a stir. Not moments after it was felt did we receive reports from all our hidden bases stationed all over the world of its presence. All the way from the fares edges of the Earth country to the most eastern isles of Crescent Moon Island. My men finally isolated the source of the power to being in the southern isles of Water Country. There they claim that it's power matched that of a rampaging Tailed Beast. Stronger than the one your former teammate keeps at bay." Orochimaru stated.

"So why waste my time with this knowledge. Send your own nearby men to investigate." Sasuke scoffed.

"Oh my dear Sasuke-kun. Don't you see this is a perfect opportunity to test your stealth and observational skills? After all, even the most powerful of Shinobi cannot skim on the basics. Lest those skills grow rusty and present openings for their enemies."

"Fine, I'll head out immediately." Sasuke stated, wanting to get this over with quickly.

"Splendid." Orochimaru said.

Sasuke turned to leave immediately when he was called back by Orochimaru. "Uh ah ah, I can't have you go out alone. Take two of my ninjas with you."

"They'll just slow me down and you know it." Sasuke said simply.

"Yes, but I have a vested interest in your safety. Even the mighty must learn to cooperate with others, Sasuke-kun. If anything, think of it as putting my mind at ease." Orochimaru mused.

"Do what you want. Just have them hurry up." Sasuke stated.

"They'll meet you at the front entrance. They should be there before you arrive." Orochimaru said before waving Sasuke off.

"Good." Sasuke responded before leaving the snake to his musings.

Sasuke exited the room without even shutting the door behind him. Letting his padded sandals echo along the narrow dimly lit corridors.

* * *

Meanwhile, a few hundred miles away, two dark figures awoke from their meditation.

"Alright, let's get going." The younger man said. His older companion with the massive sword wrapped in gauze grumbled.

"Are they really sending us to investigate that absurd chakra signature alone?"

"Yes." The man answered.

"Chh, you're a real pain in the ass sometimes. You know that Itachi?" Kisame spat as he threw his sword, Samehada, over his shoulder.

"I'm personally interested in that power surge. It was stronger than a Tailed Beast." Itachi said.

"And that's got me intrigued. But even I know a mismatch when I see one. Besides, shouldn't we be focused on finding that Nine-Tails brat?"

"Knowing Naruto, he's bound to already be involved with this." Itachi stated.


	2. Chapter 2

The doors to the inn swung open and the 4-man group was greeted to the sight of one of the shadiest looking bars Gohan and Videl had ever seen.

It was exactly how you would picture it. Dimly lit room, wooden beams and tables, with smoke covering the ceiling like a thick fog. The smell in the air almost burnt their eyes, it was so pungent.

The customers all wore dirty hoods and rustic clothes. Nursing their beers, smoking cigars, and laughing loudly with friends.

Jirayia smiled. "Looks like we're sleeping luxury for a change." Gohan and Videl weren't sure if he was joking or not.

"Are you serious... Please tell me you're not." Videl sweat dropped.

"Compared to the last few weeks. This _is_ luxurious." Naruto replied.

"I'll... take your word for it then..." Videl said hesitantly.

"It's not that bad, Videl." Gohan shrugged.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY MOTHER!?" One of the bar patrons yelled as he threw a glass mug at another customer from the other side of the bar.

"She sucked my dick last night like a champ!" The other guy slurred to egg the first guy on.

"You were saying..." Videl said.

"Never mind..." Gohan groaned.

"I'll go get us a couple of rooms. Wait here and try not to get into any trouble." Jiraiya said as he went to go speak with the Inn keeper.

"I don't trust these guys..." Videl said quietly.

Gohan and Videl instinctively huddled together while Naruto kept up what looked like a more relaxed pose, but was actually ready for anything.

"Just mind your business and they'll mind there's." Naruto said while one of the drunk masses stumbled out of the crowd and ran into Videl.

"Hey!" Videl protested.

That unfortunately got the attention of everyone in the bar.

"Sorry, sorry..." The man apologized profusely before looking up and getting an eyeful of Videl. His tone then immediately changed.

"Hey baby, do those legs go all the way up?" He leered.

"You'll never find out. Now leave me alone before you get hurt." Videl warned.

"Oh come on baby. Don't be like that..." He said before falling flat on his face, completely unconscious. The whole bar looked over at the scene before collectively bursting out into a fit of laughter.

Videl shuddered. "Fucking drunks..."

Naruto chuckled. "You'll get used to it."

"Maybe for you. In case you haven't already noticed, I'm a woman in a bar full of drunk men." Videl pointed out.

"Why is that a problem?" Naruto asked.

"Oh my god..." Videl face palmed.

"Hey, there's a woman right over there." Naruto pointed at an extremely fat bar waitress slapping the shit out of frisky customer.

"Are you trying to say I'm fat?!" Videl exclaimed as she clamped her hand down on Naruto's ear.

"Ahh! My ear! My ear!" Naruto cried out in pain.

"Well?!" Videl pressed as she began to twist his ear.

"OWOWOWOWWW! NOO!" Naruto cried.

"That's what I thought..." Videl smirked as she let go.

"Damn... You remind me of Sakura-chan..." Naruto grumbled.

"Who?" Videl asked.

"No one..." Naruto grumbled as he massaged his ear.

"Well, guys... Sad to say, the Inn doesn't have any rooms available." Jiraiya informed.

"What? But you said-

"Sorry, sorry. What I meant to say was, that the inn doesn't have any 'extra' rooms available." Jirayia said as he jingled the two keys in front of them. "So we're going to have to double up." Gohan looked concerned as his eyes darted back and forth from Videl to Naruto.

"So for your safety Videl, I think you should bunk with me." Jirayia stated.

"Oh I don't think so." Videl said sternly.

"Oh come on. I was kidding earlier. Please, your too young for me." Jirayia playfully scoffed. _'And under aged.'_

"How about instead, I get a room to myself and you three boys can have a nice big sleepover?" Videl said sweetly as she plucked one of the room keys out of Jirayia's hand.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, Videl is very tough. She's handled worse than what's here." Gohan assured.

"It's true, I have." Videl confirmed.

"If you say so." Naruto said.

"And we'll be right next door should anything happen." Jirayia reassured.

"If anything does, I can take care of myself." Videl said with conviction.

"Are you sure?" Gohan asked.

"Yes, I am. I'm not sharing a bed with you, no offence." Videl said.

"I... I understand." Gohan nodded.

"Alright, now that that's settled, what say we drop off our stuff and head back down for a nice meal before bed." Jirayia said, in his new role as den mother.

"Well, Gohan and I don't have anything on us anyway, so..." Videl said.

"Oh that's right, we forgot to tell you." Jirayia said as he reached into his pack and pulled out a familiar looking sack.

"What's that?" Videl asked.

"I don't know. It fell out of the portal with you two. I assumed it was important to you two."

"Let me see." Gohan said as Jiraiya handed over the sack. In it were several containers with the Capsule Corp logo. "Well I'll be damned..."

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"It's the containers that Bulma had just intended to send through." Gohan said happily as he opened one of them.

"They're not explosives, are they?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Oh, no their not. They're all kinds of things. Food, entertainment electronics and medical supplies." Gohan listed off.

"So more of those capsule caps?" Naruto asked.

"Yup." Gohan said as he took a couple Capsules out of the first container.

"Not here." Jirayia said quickly as he placed a hand over the capsule in Gohan's hand.

"I wasn't going to take anything out of the capsules." Gohan deadpanned.

"Even then. We don't need the attention." Jirayia said. Just to prove his point, another man walked up to them, saw the capsules and whispered. "You holding?"

"Holding what?" Gohan asked.

"He's asking for drugs, and no, we don't have any." Videl said seriously.

"Then what are those?" The man asked, pointing to the capsules.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Now get..." Videl said firmly.

But the man stood his ground and grew cocky. "Maybe I don't want to leave." He smirked. "Maybe I wanna tell some friends of mine that you've got some valuables and don't wanna share?"

The man reach for the capsules, but Videl grabbed his wrist hard, enough to make a cracking noise.

"If you wanna keep the use of that hand, I suggest you back off."

That's when two tables worth of guys stood up at once, each of them burlier than the last.

Gohan and Videl were sizing them up for a fight when Naruto walked past them.

"Alright guys, you got us, yes we're holding." Naruto admitted.

"Naruto, what the hell? They're nothing but a bunch of pansies!" Videl exclaimed.

"Videl, put the guys hand down." Naruto pulled the man's arm free of Videl. Gohan was about to protest until Jirayia put his hand on the boy's shoulder. With a look on his face that said, "Trust Naruto."

Naruto, meanwhile, was putting on a show for the angry men.

"I'm sorry guys. _Women._ Am I right?" Naruto laughed, earning a chuckle from a few of the guys.

"That bitch broke my wrist!" The one guy shouted.

"Yeah, she does that. We gotta keep her around for something more than her looks, right? Cause god knows she can't cook for shit." Naruto fibbed, earning more chuckles from the thugs who were starting to relax.

"Keep your bitch under control." The man said, still nursing his broken wrist.

"Alright chuckles, alright." Naruto said defensively. "But I think you were asking about the _stuff_ we brought, is that right?"

"Yes..."

"Well you caught us. We got some stuff, right here." Naruto reached into his back pocket with both hands. Gohan and Videl watched as Naruto took a handful of tiny white pills and quickly made several rapid fire hand gestures like he was trying to rap in sign language. But before either of them could blink, the pills turned into Capsule Corp capsules. Naruto then showed the fake devices to the guy who Videl had broken his wrist.

"Latest concoction from the boys down south. Supposed to knock you on your ass sideways with a single hit. We were gonna test if out at the Mist village capital, but I could possibly give you boys a sample for say, 100 Ryo a pop." Naruto spoke like an experienced used car salesman.

"100 ryo? What kind of cheap ass crap you tryin' to pawn off us?" The man with the broken wrist asked.

"Call it the friends and family discount. Since we're such good friends." Naruto smiled.

"Fine." The man pulled out his walled and handed Naruto 300 Ryo. "Now give me the stuff."

"Sure thing." Naruto said politely as he handed the man his share. The man took one of the pills, popped them in his mouth, and felt a massive rush coarse through his system.

"WHOOH! Damn that's good stuff!" The man exclaimed. The rest of his buddies in his gang all lined up by Naruto to get their fair share. Soon they were all sitting pretty.

"What was that?" Gohan asked.

"Tell you in a bit." Naruto whispered as he motioned Gohan and Videl up to their rooms with Jirayia tailing the pack. Leaving the wannabe gangsters to party and faint down stairs.

Once they reached the boy's room, Jirayia shut the door behind them. The room was a tiny thing. 7x7 with a single window, a twin bed, and a night desk.

"Nice work with the Aphrodon, brat." Jirayia praised.

"Aphrodon?" Gohan asked.

Naruto pulled out one of the tiny little tablets from earlier. "Yup, a spy master's best friend. Especially when he's dealing with drug dealers." Naruto explained. "Tiny, discreet, can hold a transformation jutsu to look like any drug or food you want. Plus, it gives the user just enough of a high to make them think they took the genuine article. In about an hour all those guys will pass out from what a doctor will call alcohol abuse and wake up with absolutely no memory of tonight."

"Wow. Some stuff." Gohan said with enthusiasm.

"I know, ri-OOOFF!" Naruto doubled over from Videl punching him in the gut.

"Talk about me like that again and I'll make it hurt worse than that." Videl growled.

"Hey, I needed to sell it! I don't know if it's a thing in your universe, but over here we have a thing called being discreet!" Naruto ranted.

"Trust me, coming from the brat, this means a lot." Jirayia chimed in.

"Whatever..." Videl huffed. She then pulled a pill bottle out of her shirt. "Anyone got any water?"

"What's that for?" Gohan asked with concern.

"You don't need to know." Videl snapped. "It's something I take every day."

"Well I've got a canteen if Gohan can't whip out that magic fridge of his." Jirayia offered.

"You shouldn't be taking drugs, Videl. It's bad for you." Gohan said seriously.

"Well, I need this one." Videl said sternly.

"You can't rely on drugs to make things easier, Videl! Get rid of them."

"Holy fuck! It's my birth control medication you jerk!" Videl shouted with a deep blush on her face.

Now a blush was left on Gohan's face. "O-oh... I'm sorry..." Gohan took out his fridge for Videl to get a drink.

"Jeez... Like you need to know about my bodies functions..." Videl deadpanned as she took out a bottle of water to take her medication.

Jiraiya was busy jotting down in his notebook. _'Gotta love the relationship drama. Readers love a touch of realism.'_

"I'm... Really sorry, Videl..." Gohan said sheepishly.

"Yea, yea. I know." Videl waved off as she swallowed her medication. "Next time, don't jump to conclusions."

"Right... I'll try to remember that..." Gohan said sheepishly.

"Yeah, you do that." Videl said. She swallowed her pill and sighed. "I'm going to bed. See you guys in the morning."

"Okay. Sleep well." Gohan said.

"You too." Videl said as she left the room and headed to hers. She found that it was the same as the other, only with a larger bed. _'Now I feel bad...'_ Videl thought. _'They only have a single twin bed and I have the larger one...'_

Videl sat on her bed, now taking in its complete size. Her mind wandered a bit as she thought things over. _'Maybe one night wouldn't be so bad...'_ Videl thought.

Meanwhile in the boy's room, talks had broken down about who would get the bed.

"Ok, so it's agreed. Whoever wins the arm wrestling match gets the bed." Jirayia declared as he put his elbows on the night stand which they had moved to the center of the room.

"Sounds okay to me." Naruto said.

"Um, okay." Gohan said sheepishly.

"Ladies first." Jirayia joked as he looked at Gohan.

"Ass." Gohan grumbled as he took Jiraiya's hand and locked it with his own. Naruto meanwhile took Jiraiya's other hand and prepared to arm wrestle.

"You both know the rules. No jutsus, no chakra, and no ki." Jiraiya said as he held both the boy's hands together. "Ready?"

"Ready." They both responded.

"Begin." Jiraiya declared.

In an instant, the arm that Gohan had ahold of was slammed down on the table, while Naruto struggled with the one he had.

"Looks like I win." Gohan declared.

"Damn. That's some arm you've got on you." Jirayia groaned as he massaged his bruised arm.

"Comes from years of training with increased gravity and really heavy weights." Gohan said.

"You didn't use Ki, did you?" Naruto grunted.

"No. There was no need to." Gohan responded.

They all then heard a knocking on their door and Gohan went to answer it.

When Gohan opened the door, he was surprised to see Videl standing there.

"Videl? Is everything okay?" Gohan asked.

"Yes... Can I talk to you for a minute? privately?" Videl asked sheepishly.

"Sure." Gohan said. "I'll be right back, guys." Gohan said before walking out into the hallway to talk to Videl. "What's up?"

"Listen... Don't take this the wrong way... But... Do you... Want to... s-share my room?" Videl stammered with a blush.

"Oh I don't need to anymore. I won the right to the bed." Gohan naively said.

"Well, I thought that... being in mine... would be a better idea. My room has a queen size bed and it's too big for just me..." Videl said softly.

"A queen? Nah, it'll be alright. Like you said, you need your privacy." Gohan dismissed politely.

"Yea..." Videl said sadly. _'I wish you weren't so naïve...'_ Videl thought.

Gohan picked up on her sadness and got concerned. "Is anything wrong?"

"I'm just... A little lonely... I guess..." Videl said, breaking Gohan's heart.

"Don't worry, Videl. Once we've gotten back to their village, we'll find a way back home to all our friends and family in no time. I promise you that." Gohan said firmly.

"I hope so... But, that's not what I mean..."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Dammit. I want you to stay with me!" Videl exclaimed. "J-just for tonight..."

"Oh, is that all you wanted? Then sure. Of course." Gohan smiled.

"W-wait... Before we do... We gotta set some ground rules." Videl said nervously. "Come with me." Gohan followed Videl into her room and closed the door.

"I don't see why we have to. It's just like when I slept in the same bed as my little brother whenever he had a nightmare." Gohan said.

"It's a little different than that... We're sharing the same bed."

"So?"

"So there's certain areas that... I don't want you... (gulp)... touching..." Videl blushed.

"Why would I be touching you? It's a queen sized bed right? Don't we both just stay on each other's side?" Gohan asked, still confused.

"I just... felt the need to put that out there is all..." videl said as she opened her side of the bed.

 _'Man... for someone as smart as he is, he is really dumb when it comes to this sort of thing.'_ Videl thought.

"Well okay." Gohan quickly left the room and told the other two that he would be staying in Videl's room tonight. After some obvious jeering from Jirayia, Gohan returned to the room and turned off the lights.

"Good night Videl." Gohan said politely.

"Night, Gohan..." Videl said sleepily. It wasn't long before the fears she had left her and sleep took her, while Gohan remained awake.

His mind wandered for hours about how they got there and all of the possibilities there could be to return home. But, any scenario he could think of, it just wouldn't be good enough to make sense or even happen in a realistic time span. No matter how he looked at it, they were stuck there, seemingly forever.

 _'There's no way around it. Even if I could come up with something, it would take decades to complete.'_ Gohan thought sadly.

He turned his head and looked at the sleeping Videl. Her hair was already a mess and she was lightly snoring.

 _'I have to do something... For her. I promised her I'd find a way home and one way or another, I'm going to do just that.'_ Gohan thought seriously.

Then, something he didn't expect happened. Videl moaned as she rolled over in her sleep, almost like she was having a nightmare, and she rolled over to where she was laying on his chest.

Gohan froze, not sure of what to do. But in that instance, whatever sleep distress Videl was in was gone almost immediately as her breathing slowed and a very soft smile adorned her face.

 _'Oh boy... uh...'_ Gohan thought nervously. He wasn't sure what to do, but seeing her almost immediately comforted, he decided to leave her be and put an arm around the small of her back. 'Well, this was unexpected. I just hope she doesn't get mad at me in the morning.'

Eventually, he drifted off to sleep as well.

* * *

Morning eventually came and Videl was the first to stir awake. She was warm, comfortable, happy and...

 _'What's that sound?'_ She thought. The thumping of a heartbeat could be heard in her ear. She opened one eye and saw that during the night, she ended up on top of Gohan.

 _'Oh... my... god...'_ Videl thought as a deep blush adorned her face. She slowly looked and saw that his arm was around her, protectively. But her blush deepened when she had shift ever so slightly and his hand was now laying on her butt.

 _'His hand is on my ass... Woah girl... calm down. He didn't do it on purpose. And... this fells... nice...'_ Videl thought. She decided to milk this for all it was worth and snuggle back into Gohan's chest.

That's when she felt the same hand grip her ass even tighter, causing her to almost cry out in an eep. With Gohan caressing her bottom with his big, strong fingers.

"Marshmallows..." He muttered in his sleep.

Videl's face was beet root red as her eyes shot wide open. _'Oh no...'_ She thought.

 _'Do I wake him? I really don't wanna do that, but... this is wrong.'_

That's when Gohan moaned a relaxed breath and loosened his hands, releasing Videl's tushie.

 _'Okay... Oh boy, that was awkward...'_ She thought. In reality, she kinda didn't mind it, but in the same token, they weren't a couple and it wasn't even evident to her that he liked her that way.

"Mmmm..." Gohan moaned in his sleep.

Gohan's hand tightened on her ass again, this time a little softer than before, but it was still embarrassing.

"Videl..." He moaned in his sleep.

Videl's heart skipped a beat. Gohan just moaned HER NAME in his sleep. While fondling her ass no less.

 _'Oh my god... Does he... like me?'_ Videl thought.

"Videl... Goten..." Gohan whispered.

 _'Huh?'_

"Come and feel these marshmallows... they're bitchin'..."

 _'He thinks my ass is a mound of marshmallows.'_ Videl giggled softly. It was still embarrassing, but it was kinda funny.

"Noooo... Icarus...don't eat ma dragon... is Christmas..."

Videl now couldn't help but laugh, stirring Gohan awake.

"Mmm... what's so... funny?" Gohan asked as he opened an eye.

"You, silly. You were talking in your sleep." Videl giggled.

"Oh god. Was my dad eating my dragons again?" Gohan yawned.

"That's one of them." Videl smiled.

"I was also dreaming I had the softest bunch of marshmallows ever."

"They weren't marshmallows." Videl blushed.

"Huh...well I'm sorry I waked you..." Gohan said half-asleep.

"It's fine... But... You're squeezing my ass." Videl said as her blush deepened.

"Zzzzzzzzzz..." Gohan snored.

Videl just rolled her eyes and laid back down. _'Fuck it. He's too naïve to try anything.'_ Videl thought.

That's when Videl heard a knock on the door, and Naruto's voice coming from the other side.

"Yo, Gohan, Videl, come on down for some breakfast." Naruto called.

 _'God dammit.'_ Videl thought.

"Be there shortly." Videl called, waking Gohan up again.

"Huh? What's up?" Gohan yawned.

"We gotta get up." Videl said softly.

"Oh okay. Well, I can't with you on me." Gohan chuckled.

"Well, I can't either... You're... um...grabbing my ass..." Videl blushed.

Gohan looked at her in disbelief. Then, being his father's son, tested Videl's claim by squeezing his hands, only to find resistance.

"So I am..." He said sheepishly.

"Can you... Kindly remove your hand, please?" Videl asked.

"Oh sure." He said nonchalantly, like he didn't find the situation awkward at all.

"Thank you..." Videl blushed as she rolled over to get out of bed. "It's actually kinda funny. You thought my ass was a mound of marshmallows." Videl laughed.

"That is actually, but you seem embarrassed. Why?" Gohan asked.

Videl had to do a double take. Surely someone had taught him about that sort of thing. "You must be joking." Videl deadpanned.

"Why is that?" Gohan asked.

"Did... Anyone ever give you the... birds and the bee's talk?" Videl blushed.

"What's that?"

"Oh god..." Videl sighed. "We need to talk..."

"About what?"

"Just be quiet and listen..." Videl sighed. For the next 20 minutes, Videl had gone into detail about the difference between a man and a woman as well as a conversation Gohan should have had with his father, or father figure. Needless, to say, it was really awkward for Videl to have to explain the birds and the bees to a grown ass man.

"Y-you mean... What I did was... Wrong?" Gohan asked, now embarrassed by what he had done.

"In terms of our relationship, yes..." Videl blushed.

"Videl... I'm sooo sorry..."

"It's fine... You were asleep, so you get a free pass. But this is the only time, understand?"

"Of course, I promise." Gohan said quickly.

"Good." Videl smiled sweetly.

 _'Like a marshmallow.'_ Gohan thought, then he blushed when his mind was led to that.

"Now let's grab some breakfast." Videl suggested.

"Uh, Sounds good! Yea, let's eat!" Gohan said quickly to try and get his mind on something else.

"Marshmallows, huh?" Videl teased, making the poor man go beet red.

"...You're not going to let me live that down, are you?" Gohan asked sheepishly.

"Nope." Videl grinned.

They made their way down to the 1st floor where the enter what had to be a completely different dining room. Where there was supposed to be dusty old wooden furniture and beams in a smoke filled room, had transformed into a moderately nice dining hall. What was once cold and scary now looked warm and inviting.

"Wow... Complete night and day." Videl said.

"Amazing what some uncovered windows and fresh air can do." Jirayia commented from over at the bar countertops. He waved Gohan and Videl over to him while Naruto was helping the waitress from last night clear out a pile of drunks that had slept over.

"Need a hand?" Gohan asked.

"Nah, we're good. You guys eat!" Naruto called out to them.

The two newcomers shrugged and joined Jirayia at the bar, who was dinning on hash browns, sunny side up eggs, and what looked like crab meat.

"Hey you two, sleep well?"

Both teens blushed. "Um... Yea... We slept pretty good." Videl said sheepishly.

"Anything you'd like to share?" Jirayia leered.

Gohan was afraid to speak and he was worried that Videl would spill the beans, but luckily for him, Videl had other thoughts.

"What's there to tell? We slept in the same bed. Nothing more." Videl shrugged off.

Jirayia chuckled. "Of course. Of course." He took a sip of his coffee.

"What would you guys like to eat? They got a surprisingly large selection for a town this remote." Jirayia commented as he passed them both a menu.

"Pancakes and bacon for me." Videl said simply.

"4 of everything?" Gohan said sheepishly.

The man managing the bar looked at Gohan like he had spat on the man's floors.

"You joking, kid? Jirayia, is this kid yanking me? I've got a business to run and he's asking for meals for 4? Bad enough I gotta feed 2 extra for free, now this joker wants 4 of everything? What is this a charity?" The man spoke so quickly that Gohan was having a tough time keeping up.

"Fuu! You turn this place into a charity while I wasn't lookin'?" The man called out to the waitress helping out Naruto.

"No, Oda, I didn't!" The exhausted and annoyed woman called back.

"That's what I thought." Oda grumbled before returning his gaze back at Gohan.

"He eats a lot of food, so he's being completely serious." Videl said.

"Well la-de-da for him. Meanwhile, I gotta pay outta my own damn pocket to keep this one horse town afloat. But if he's a growing boy, well how can I refuse?" Oda sneered.

"Oda please, I'll pay for all our meals out of my own pocket. Just keep those rooms vacant and I'll honor our agreement. Deal?" Jirayia intervened.

"Chh, fine. I'll get you your one of everything." Oda growled as he looked at Gohan, then turned his attention back to Jirayia. "And you, money upfront."

Jirayia calmly reached into his pocket and pulled out a checkbook and fill out all the security information. He them slid the blank check to Oda. "Whatever you think is fair." Jirayia said. Oda smiled and retreated back into the kitchen.

"You owe me big, kid..." Jiraiya grumbled.

"Right... Well, when I can get some money, I'll pay you back." Gohan said.

"You're not worried that this Oda guy isn't going to abuse that blank check you gave him?" Videl asked.

"Oda is an old bastard, but he'd never take a cent he wasn't owed. Besides, most he'll get is 100,000 Ryo." Jirayia chuckled as he took another sip of his coffee.

"You know you might want to consider going on a diet, Gohan. There is a food shortage going on in these parts. Asking for a Daimyo's feast at every restaurant is probably going to turn the wrong kind of heads." Jirayia stated.

"Pfft. They'll just have to get over it. Like anyone here could match him." Videl scoffed.

"No... I think he's got a point. I don't want to attract any negative attention.' Gohan replied.

"Hmmm, and here I had you pegged as the muscle. Looks like you could be the brains of your little duo as well." Jirayia commented. "That pretty much leaves the looks to you, Videl." Jirayia joked.

"You want another lump on the head? Because I can give you one." Videl smirked.

"Relax, Videl. I was just teasing. Although your quick temper might prove to be a hindrance to us for the job we have to do." Jirayia spoke as Oda returned with Videl's plate of food and Gohan's first serving.

"How so?" Gohan asked.

"Gohan and Videl, I'd like you to meet, Oda Nawa. Owner of Crane Wings Tavern and the mayor of Dump Town." Jirayia gestured to the tired looking old man. With a receding hairline, a bushy beard, and permanent scowl on his face.

"Unofficial Mayor, thank you." Oda grumbled as he started cleaning the countertops.

"Dump town?" Videl questioned. Is that what this place was called? Seriously?

"Yup, funny story." Jirayia chuckled. "A long time ago, some quack geologists thought that there was a massive gold mine just waiting to be dug up right near this spot in the middle of nowhere. So the Water Daimyo at the time, being the great and rational leader that he was, sent a small army of workers to set up a mining operation to start digging up the gold immediately. He was so convinced that he had this town preemptively built to house all the workers before the actual digging could even begin. A few years later, it became clear that the mine had little more than granite to offer and was all but abandoned by the government. The people who stayed behind still could make a decent living off the granite, but the Daimyo consider the town to be a lost cause, so he didn't even bother to tax them. Which meant that the only person left to collect any form of taxes was Oda here, which were actually just bar tabs that everyone had built up over the years. And thus he was declared mayor." Jirayia finished his story.

"Huh... That's interesting." Vide mused.

"That doesn't answer why they call it Dump town though." Gohan said, genuinely interested.

"It's because the Daimyo dumped everything down here when he left." Oda explained.

"Ah..." Gohan said.

"Sadly, granite was really the only valuable material here, aside from some strange metal." Oda said.

"May I see it?" Gohan asked.

"I ain't got it on me." Oda grumbled.

"Maybe later Gohan." Jirayia said. "I've sidetracked us enough. Right now we've got to talk about the pirate problem."

"Oy, kid!" The waitress called out as she threw him a strange rock, which Oda recognized as the same strange metal he had mentioned.

Gohan caught it and examined it with a keen eye. As a few moments passed, he recognized what it was.

"You, really don't know what this is?" Gohan asked.

"Let me guess? Some stupidly valuable and rare mineral that will completely turn this town around?" Oda asked sarcastically.

"This right here is a chunk of Platinum. Where we're from, it has more value than gold." Gohan said seriously.

"Platinum?" Jirayia asked as he took the metal out of Gohan's hand and examined it personally.

"He's right. Tell your boys to add it to the next traders meeting with Mist." Jirayia said as he passed the rock to Oda.

Oda sighed. "Yeah sure. Get more money from the granite..." Oda grumbled.

"I don't know about your "country," Gohan, but over here, Platinum is a lot more common, and a lot less valuable." Jirayia explained.

"Damn..." Gohan sighed in defeat.

"Nice of you thinking that you can swoop in and solve all our problems, but even if this was gold it still wouldn't help our town's real problems. An unstable government and the pirate raids." Oda stated.

"Which is why we are here. You said the pirates attack the port once a month?" Jirayia asked.

"Yes, and they are due here in a few days."

"Alright. Any info you can give us? Strength of their numbers? Location of their base? Any rogue ninjas they might have recruited?" Jirayia asked.

"I don't know of any missing-nin, but I do know they are going to show up with a fleet of at least 10 ships. Man count, I don't know."

"Class of ship?" Jiraiya asked.

"Man-O-War for the most part." Oda grumbled.

"Alright, so a preemptive strike probably wouldn't be the worst idea. Any idea where they hide their ships? Any private islands nearby? I'd even take an out of the way harbor."

"I don't know off hand..."

"You didn't overhear anything? Come on, work with me." Jirayia said.

"No luck. The pirates have learned from your other incursions. Their boys have been keeping quiet the last few weeks." Oda said.

"Looks like we're doing this the old fashioned way." Jirayia sighed as he finished his plate.

"Me and Naruto are gonna check out the nearby harbor for some intel. You two can just stay here if you like. Just don't mention that you're Ki users, from another world, or that you're traveling with two Leaf ninjas." Jirayia said as he stood up from his bar chair.

"Wait, what was that first and middle part?" Oda inquired. To which Jirayia placed a tiny sack of golden coins on the table. "Guess it was nothing." Oda mused.

"Get one for me and I can get the information you need." Videl said seriously.

"You've got some intel gathering experience?" Jirayia asked.

"I worked as a detective for a while. I have methods of extracting info."

"Do you know? Well this could go by faster then." Jirayia smirked as he called over to Naruto who was just finished with helping to clear out the drunks.

"I'm thinking we try splitting into teams." Jirayia suggested. "Videl with me and Naruto, you take Gohan."

"Works for me." Videl smirked.

"Just tell me what to do." Gohan said.

"You just follow Naruto's lead. Even when he suggests something stupid, go along with it. Meanwhile, Videl and I will handle the harbor." Jirayia said.

"Okay, me and Gohan can check out the nearby islands and swing around the beach. I'm guessing we need to find the pirate base, right?" Naruto guessed. He had been on this long ass mini mission for nearly two months now. He knew the drill by now.

"Sounds good. Report back, but don't engage the enemy." Jirayia ordered sternly before changing his mind. "Unless you can't help it. Like there is a cute damsel in distress and you both think that she'll let you both score if you save her. Only then do you have my blessing." Jirayia smirked.

"Score?" Gohan asked in confusion.

"Never you mind, Gohan." Videl sighed.

"You're still free and clear, Naruto." Jirayia winked at his pupil.

"Shut it, Pervy Sage." Naruto scoffed.

"An accurate name for him." Videl snickered.

"So, when do we leave?" Gohan asked.

"Right after you finish eating." Naruto said.

"Easily accomplished." Gohan said as he started devouring his food.

 _'This guy seriously has an appetite.'_ Naruto thought.

 _'Geez... I still can't seem to get used to this...'_ Videl thought.

 _'This kid is gonna make me broke before the month is out.'_ Jiraiya thought.

Gohan had to stop eating when he felt that all eyes were on him. He then figured it was because they had never really seen someone eat this much.

"I'm sorry..." Gohan apologized before putting down his fork. "This isn't fair to you, so I have an idea." Gohan then took out one of his senzu beans and ate it, filling him up instantly.

"What was that?" Videl asked.

"A senzu bean. It can heal any injury and it provides enough nutrients to sustain you for 10 days. It also restores your stamina and energy." Gohan explained.

"Wow... Some bean..." Jiraiya commented.

"It's helped me and my friends in many situations over the years."

"And now you use it as a diet pill?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I never really thought about doing that until now." Gohan said sheepishly.

"Really... You've been going to my school for months now and that thought JUST occurred to you?" Videl deadpanned.

"What do you want from me. It's never been an issue before." Gohan defended.

Videl just rolled her eyes. "Anyway... Are we good to go now?"

"Sure, let's go." Gohan said as he put down his knife and fork.

"Where are we going first?" Videl asked.

"Like I said, the town's harbor. It's how all these tiny islands stay connected. It's the best place to find out news on any ships or pirate activity." Jirayia reminded her.

"Oh, right." Videl nodded.

"We're off." Naruto called out from the front door as he and Gohan left to check out the beaches encircling the island.

"Alright, let's go I guess." Videl shrugged.

"Let's." Jirayia as they both left the bar and headed for the harbor.

"So, what did you two really do last night?" Jiraiya leered.

"Nothing sexual if that's what you're trying to get out of me." Videl said firmly.

"So what was "not sexual?"" Jirayia asked while making air quotations.

"All we did was sleep. We didn't make out, we didn't do anything obscene, that's it." Videl said simply.

"Is that right?"

"Yes, it is." Videl said firmly.

"That's not what I saw." Jiraiya smirked.

"W-what?! You looked in on us?!" Videl exclaimed as her face turned beet red.

"I was just checking on you guys to make sure you were okay." Jiraiya defended. "But you were sleeping on him, like you were holding onto him for dear life."

Videl's face was getting redder by the second from the fact that Jiraiya saw her sleeping on Gohan.

"S-so what...? W-we're just friends..." Videl stammered.

"I've seen friends sleep together. Close friends even. What you two were doing, was something more." Jirayia teased.

"L-look... I-it happened when I was asleep... I d-didn't do it on purpose..."

"And I also saw the two of you, mere centimeters away from making out last night at the camp fire."

Now Videl was at the highest amount of embarrassment she had ever been. Jiraiya had her right where he wanted her and there was no getting out of it.

"Alright! I'm crazy about him, okay?! Is that what you wanted?!" Videl exclaimed

"This isn't about what I want. It's about what you want and what you are going to do about it." Jirayia stated.

Videl now found herself between a rock and a hard place. She did like Gohan a lot, but her main concern was to get home. That took precedence over starting a relationship.

"I'm not going to do anything right now. My... Our main concern is getting home. Not turn this into a whirlwind fantasy love life."

Jirayia sighed. "Suit yourself. Just remember that eventually you have to live your life. Don't focus on just one goal of yours for too long. Take it from someone who knows." Jirayia said a bit sadly.

"Trust me. I know that all too well... But right now isn't the time or the place." Videl said softly. "I mean... Do I love him? I... I want to say I do. He has done so much for me in just a short time. He's even saved my life numerous times and he is even going to teach me how to fly... But... How did I get him to agree to that? I blackmailed him... I constantly hounded him about his life, trying to find out who he is and what he is... I honestly don't even know if he likes me like that... In reality, I don't deserve him..."

Jirayia threw back his head with laughter. So much that actual tears started falling down his face.

"What's so funny?!" Videl asked indignantly.

Jirayia composed himself. "You know. I'm probably on the wrong side of that kind of relationship to give you proper advice."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Videl scowled.

"It's just that I can't tell you how many times I've heard that same kind of relationship played out in my lifetime. I'm no different, except I would be the guy that gave too much to the girl that might not have deserved it."

"Oh..." Videl sighed sadly. "I'm just... I just don't know what to do... He's the only one who's really shown me any true kindness as far as guys go."

"So you're saying you should think you should go out with him because he is the only option available to you? Because you think you owe him?" Jirayia asked.

"I don't know..."

"Well let me tell you. If he does like you in the way you think he does, granting him a pity date isn't going to make him happy. If you do decide to date him, it'll be because you want to."

"And I do, more than just that..."

"So ask him out. Gohan strikes me as the socially incompetent type, he might not know exactly what he needs to do to take that first step. So you make it for him." Jiraiya advised.

"He is, big time." Videl chuckled. "But, I'll do just that, just not right now. Let us figure out what we're going to do first."

"Very wise. Now let's focus." Jirayia said as they reached the harbor.

By all accounts it was a small section of the town as was to be expected. Mostly it served as ports for the fishing boats, the primary source of food for the tiny village. Along with a few extra docks for the occasional shipment from the outside world or to transport the town's granite export. The area was dotted with small crowds of working men just standing around and chatting.

"What do you want? Stake out and overhear conversations? Or try the direct approach? We only get one slip up before the pirates get tipped off." Jirayia said.

"Oh boy... Where to start..." Videl mused as she looked at all of the people.

"I'm more of the subtle, long term method of intelligence gathering. You said you have experience with detective work, so I'm curious to learn about your methods." Jirayia admitted.

"My methods are pretty straight forward and more one on one. But for now, why don't we chat with some of these guys and slowly bring up the subject of the pirate?"

"How is that supposed to play out?" Jirayia asked.

"It can play out one of two ways. They'll either warm up to us with just some idle chitchat and they'll tell us what we want to know easily, signifying that they are willing to help us out. But if they are defensive and hostile about our questions, then normally what I would to is interrogate them. That's how I typically play things out. Bargaining sometimes works. But, that's only a few methods I have."

Then Videl leaned in close to whisper. "I actually have another method that hasn't failed me yet. I have these sugar pills that I will place in a cup of water if they ask for a drink. I make them think they are poisoned and offer them an antidote in exchange for information."

"Ok, solid strategy, except that out here in the open there is no reason for any of them to ask you for a drink. We don't even know if the people we talk to will know anything to begin with." Jirayia reminded her.

"True, but that's the point of asking them now isn't it?"

"Very true. Alright, we'll divide and conquer. I'll take the crowd on the right." Jirayia gestured over at the group of older fishermen. "And you take the crowd on the left." He pointed at the rougher looking group of men in their 30s and 40s. "Put on your womanly charm, just try not to scare them off. Get them bragging. It'll be your best option if you want them to spill the beans on being with the Red Eagles."

"Oh boy... Well, I'll try my best. Not really one for showing my feminine side."

"It's all about confidence. Believe your worth fighting over and they will fight over you. Trust me." Jirayia leered.

"Uh... well, if you say so... doesn't help I'm dressed like this..." Videl pointed out her oversized white shirt that covered all of her curves, hardly showing a thing to her womanly figure.

Jirayia looked at her up and down to conclude that yes, she wouldn't be getting cat called in that outfit.

"I always knew my talents would one day come in handy. Come with me." He said as he grabbed Videl's arm and grabbed her into the forest.

"Uh... What are you going to do?" Videl asked nervously.

"Nothing you would normally approve of. So bear with me and hold still." Jirayia said as he turned Videl around and grabbed the back of her shirt.

"W-what are you-"

"Trust me..." Jirayia pulled Videl's shirt back tight, revealing Videl's curves and hugging her chest. He then took the excess fabric and tied it in a quick knot so that the shirt stayed tight and exposed her belly. He then ruffled up her hair to add the finishing touches. Thankfully she was already wearing skin tight spandex shorts to show off her butt and thighs.

"Perfect." Jirayia spoke.

"...You're right... I don't approve of this..." Videl grumbled as she looked herself over.

"Oh come on. You look hot enough to be someone's cousin in these parts." Jirayia leered.

"That... doesn't make me feel any better..." Videl deadpanned. Then she sighed. "Oh well... If it will help this place out, then fuck it..."

"That's the kunoichi spirit. Now go strut your goods and talk only to the guy with the sleaziest pick up line." Jirayia said as he swatted her on the ass for good luck.

"Do that again and I'll rip your dick off..." Videl growled.

"That's it. That angry scowl. That's perfect." Jirayia said with a perverted grin and thumbs up.

 _'This is absolutely embarrassing... I hope Naruto and Gohan are doing better than me.'_ Videl thought.

* * *

A few miles away, Gohan was wondering the exact same thing about Videl and Jirayia.

Gohan and Naruto had been chosen to circle around the island, looking for any secret hideaways for the Red Eagles. Gohan thought it would be a simple fly around the island and then break for lunch, but Naruto had insisted on them traveling through the trees by foot. Which turned into Naruto leaping from tree branch to tree branch while Gohan flew behind him. Although it was definitely a slower method of travel than Gohan was used to, he couldn't help but be impressed by Naruto's ability to maneuver through the dense forest so quickly and gracefully. He even out maneuvered Gohan when it came to making tight turns. Even when Gohan could fly.

Then a thought occurred to Gohan as he mentally smacked his forehead from not remembering it sooner.

"Naruto! Stop for a sec!"

Naruto kicked back on a tree trunk and landed on a nearby tree branch.

"What?"

"Something I just realized I could do that would help us find these guys faster." Gohan said as he closed his eyes. He tuned his senses to search out any malevolent energies in the area so that they could find these bastards and end them.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"Searching out the energy of those with evil hearts. This will be a much faster way of finding those pirates." Gohan replied.

"Wait, you can do that?"

"Yes I can, but you're making it hard to focus."

"Sorry." Naruto said before shutting up. He let Gohan meditate in peace as he extended his senses outwards. First feeling the presence of the villagers and then the villagers working the mines. He found nothing. Then he extended his reach out even further into what he thought were fishing boats. Still nothing.

"I don't understand. I can't sense anything malevolent." Gohan stated.

Naruto sighed. "Typical. They must not be thinking any evil thoughts for you to pick up."

"Damn it, looks like we'll have to keep searching by foot." Gohan sighed.

"Oh don't look so down. It was a good plan. Besides, this would be boring if we found them so quickly." Naruto said trying to cheer Gohan up.

"I wish we had found them quicker so that we could end this." Gohan sighed.

Naruto dropped his leadership persona and sighed. "Me too. I would have loved it if we could find these damn pirates quickly and just take care of them. Pervy Sage promised me that as soon as we completed this mission we would head back to the Leaf." Naruto said, the last part had his voice sound airier. Like he was fondly remembering something.

"What is the Leaf like anyway?" Gohan asked with curiosity.

"The Leaf village? Well its... it's home. I've got no other word for it." Naruto smiled as he thought more about the people than the actual place.

"But I guess if you were asking what the actual village looked like. It's a ninja village. So it's bigger than the village were staying at by a lot. With colorful buildings crammed together. None of them too tall. You'll see ninjas of all ages leaping along on top of the rooftops while below in the streets you'll see civilians and relaxed ninjas just walking around, shopping or meeting up with friends. Kids playing ninja and newly recruited genin chasing around a cat or two." Naruto smiled brightly at the memory of his village.

"Wow... That sounds amazing." Gohan said with intrigue.

"It is." Naruto agreed. "It's all surrounded by this massive red wall that protects us and this mountain where the faces of all our pervious and current Hokage are carved into the cliff side, so that they can always watch over the village. And one day, my face is gonna be up there too."

"Hokage?"

That got Naruto's attention. "Yeah, the Hokage. The top dog of my home village. The strongest, wisest, bravest, and most respected ninja in all of Konoha. Who leads his fellow shinobi and watches over all the other citizens of the Leaf village and of Fire Country. It's been my dream to be Hokage for as long as I can remember." Naruto said fondly.

"Geez... I don't think I could ever do something like that." Gohan stated.

"Well it's not for everyone. Even still, you strike me as the heroic type." Naruto stated.

"That happens when you save your own world from a bio-engineered android." Gohan shrugged.

"Bio-what now?"

"Bio-engineered Android. He was a creature named Cell and he was created by a mad scientist called Dr. Gero. He made Cell by combining the cells of Earth's greatest fighters as well as one of my previous enemies named Freeza. He... He killed my father... He would have destroyed our world and all of us, but I was able to stop him."

"Shit...that's something else. I mean I've fought off a few giant monsters in my time to save my village. But nothing on the save-the-world scale like you." Naruto admitted.

"That wasn't the last time either... There was a space pirate named Bojack that showed up less than a month later to destroy our world along with his henchmen. I almost died during that fight, but in the end, I stopped them."

"Hmmm, seems like you have plenty of adventures under your belt. Me too." Naruto smiled, grateful that he had found common ground with the saiyan.

"Oh believe me. If I told you all about them, your head would spin." Gohan smiled.

"Can't say that I've got a more colorful roster of bad guys. Mostly just this creepy snake dude and this black robed organization bent on world conquest." Naruto said as they continued their search of the coastline.

"Sound to me like you are living a similar life to my dad." Gohan commented.

"Was he a hero like you?" Naruto inquired.

"He was more of a hero than I was. He single-handedly took down a tyrannical army called Red Ribbon Army when he was younger than you. He saved the world from a demon named King Piccolo, twice, he died protecting me and the world against my Saiyan uncle, Raditz, he saved the world again against two other Saiyan's, he stopped an interstellar tyrant, Freeza and he stopped the Legendary Super Saiyan that was threatening our galaxy."

"Wow. I wish I had a father like that." Naruto said in awe without thinking.

"What does your father do?" Gohan asked.

"I don't know. I never knew my father." Naruto admitted as casual as he would admit to grabbing a soda from the fridge.

"Didn't your mom tell you anything about him?"

"I never knew her either." Naruto said with a bit of sadness bleeding through.

"Wait... You mean... You're an orphan?" Gohan asked.

"Yup. Still am, I'm pretty sure." Naruto said as he leapt down off the trees and put his hands behind his head.

Gohan had to stop midflight and flew down to join Naruto.

"I'm so sorry to hear that..." Gohan said sadly as he landed next to Naruto.

"It's fine. I never knew them so I couldn't get hurt by them." Naruto said sadly.

"Still. It couldn't have been easy to live with. No one ever adopted you?"

Naruto thought back to the years of name calling, neglect, and beatings from scared citizens of the Leaf.

"No. No one ever did."

Gohan felt his heart break. "That's horrible to hear... I'm really sorry about that..."

"It's okay. It wasn't all bad. I still had the 3rd Hokage to take care of me. And later on I had Iruka-sensei. He was my academy instructor and even though he could be really harsh and loud, he always believed in me. He even took me to Ichiraku's for ramen once a week." Naruto smiled one of the brightest smiles Gohan had ever seen. "He's awesome."

"Well, I'm glad your life had a silver lining to it." Gohan smiled.

"Oh definitely. The trick was that I worked hard for it. I still do..."

"Well, keep working at it. I'm sure you'll reach your goals in the future." Gohan assured.

"And what about you? What are your goals for the future?" Naruto asked.

"I guess...for now... Get home. From there, I don't know."

"Well you must have a dream you want to fulfill."

"I do... For my world to always be at peace."

Naruto smiled. "Now there is a dream I can get behind."

"And... To start a family. Find a nice girl, settle down, relax... But, that's not for a long time to come." Gohan said.

"Same here." Naruto smiled as he imagined himself with the Hokage's hat standing arm in arm with a certain pink hair woman while their two kids played in the backyard.

"Hey what's that?" Gohan snapped Naruto out of his daydream by pointing out the barely visible part of a wall hidden behind the thicket of trees.

Sensing that this was it, Naruto leapt up to the highest tree branch. He was quickly followed by Gohan. The two of them looked down on the building from a higher vantage point and saw that it was a concealed harbor.

"Good eye, Gohan." Naruto whispered to the half saiyan.

"I'll send a message to Videl and Jiraiya." Gohan whispered, before opening a mental link. _'Videl? How's everything going over there?'_

 _'Uhhh... Fine...'_ Videl thought nervously.

 _'What's fine? Are you alright? You sound nervous.'_ Gohan pointed out.

 _'I'm kinda doing something waaay out of my comfort zone right now... Something I'm going to hate myself for doing...'_

* * *

On Videl's end, things were getting a bit frisky.

"Hey come on, baby. Don't be like that." One of the sailors leered. Videl's seduction strategy had worked a little too well and she found herself surrounded by a gang of horny sailors.

"As I said... You can look, but you can't touch..." Videl said seductively as he moved her hips a little.

"Aw come on. Would 200 Ryo loosen those hinges?" One sailor said, flashing a small wad of bills at Videl. Thankfully one of his buddies slapped the man before Videl could.

"Ignore him. He thinks he's still in Fire Country where the girls are cheaper. I can tell a classy girl like you deserves greater incentive." The man then pulled out 500 Ryo.

"Actually... All I need is information..." Videl leered.

"What chu wanna know, sweet cheeks?" A third sailor said to Videl's breasts. "I got all the info you could possibly take." Videl shuttered.

"Promise me that you'll tell me what I want to know and... You can do anything you want..." Videl winked.

The man looked like he was about to get the easiest lay of his life when he was shoved aside by one of the scrawnier sailors. "I KNOW MORE THAN HE DOES!"

"Easy now, boys... You'll all get your turn..."

While the boys were all fighting over Videl like a piece of meat. Jirayia was hanging back to enjoy the show and to chat with the older fishermen, free from being overheard by the younger sailors.

"So Red Eagle has been amassing his forces for a massive coup?" Jirayia asked one of the fishermen.

"Yes, word is that the leader of the Red Eagles, a scoundrel going by the name Blood Beard, wants to get in on the Mist village civil war. His plan is to lure the winning side of the civil war into the archipelago and attack them with his massive fleet of 100 ships!" The fisherman exclaimed. "Then he'll declare his pirates to be the new military of Water Country. He calls it the Age of Pirates."

"Well, luckily for you fine people, my team has a secret weapon." Jiraiya smirked.

"That's just it. He already knows about you, Lord Jirayia. He claims that his cannons will be more than enough to deal with any ninja the world throws at him."

"Then it's a good thing my secret weapon isn't a ninja, but something far stronger."

Back with Videl, she was just wrapping up beating down all of the guys who tried to touch her after getting the info she needed.

"Well, that was fun and all. But there is no way I'm going to give myself up to the first guy I see." Videl smirked as she untied the knot in her shirt, letting it fall back into its previous state.

Jirayia chuckled. God he loved it when they were feisty. If she was older, not interested in Gohan, and he wasn't holding out for that beast of a Lady Hokage; he'd be all over her.

"Thank you gentlemen, it's been a pleasure." Jirayia said as he stood up to join his female companion.

"Be safe out there, Lord Jirayia. May the spirits be with you!" Jirayia gave them a friendly wave goodbye.

Videl smoothed out her shirt to get rid of the wrinkles in it as Jiraiya met up with her. "Make me do something like that again and I'll turn your legs into a pretzel." Videl warned.

"Glad to see your time spent on the hard streets hasn't changed you." Jirayia joked. "Now did you learn anything about Red Eagle, Blood Beard, or a fleet of 100 ships?" Jirayia asked, wanting to confirm his own intel.

"Everything. Gohan contacted me mentally and they found their base of operations." Videl confirmed.

"They probably found one of them. A fleet of 100 ships wouldn't be able to hide on an island this size. They would need several ports, but good job in finding one of them." Jiraiya speculated.

"So, what's next?"

"Good question. We meet up with Naruto and Gohan. Scope out the harbor. And go from there."

"Sounds good." Videl nodded.

That's when she was contacted again by Gohan. _'Videl, what's the plan?'_

 _'We're going to meet up with you to scout out the pirate base. What is your location?'_

 _'Southwest corner of the island. It took Naruto a half an hour to run down here, so maybe you can fly Jirayia over here quicker. Just focus on my energy signature like I taught you.'_

 _'I can't fly, remember?'_ Videl deadpanned. _'You haven't taught me that yet.'_

 _'What? I could of sworn I... No wait, no I didn't...'_ Gohan deadpanned.

 _'Whatever. We'll join you guys as soon as we can. Jirayia says that you two can start without us.'_ Videl thought.

 _'Sounds like a plan. See you later.'_

* * *

"What's the word?" Naruto whispered to Gohan from atop their tree branch.

"We can start scoping out the area without them. They'll meet up with us later." Gohan whispered back.

"Sounds good. Not to be mean, but do you have any experience with stealth?" Naruto asked as he mentally mapped out their location.

"A little. I can mask my energy so they don't sense me coming, if they're capable of that."

"Okay. In that case, just keep a look out from here. It'll help Pervy Sage and Videl find us faster. Meanwhile, I'll sneak around their flank and see what intel I can pick up. If I get captured, just wait for Pervy Sage." Naruto said as he double checked that his ninja equipment was all tightened down so that it wouldn't make any rattling noises.

"Alright. Send me a signal if you need help."

"I'll shout for you." Naruto reassured as he disappeared into the tree leaves before Gohan's very eyes.

"Nice trick..." Gohan said to himself.

* * *

Naruto meanwhile was doing what he did best, sneaking into heavily guarded areas completely undetected. In an instant, he was a kid again. Evading perusing raging chunin, jounin, and even ANBU patrols after pulling off his latest prank. Oh the fun times he had raising Hell against the bastard Konoha citizens who looked down on him. The shop keepers who wouldn't sell to him. The parents that kept their children from playing with him. And the Shinobi that spat on him. He made them all pay.

Naruto stopped for a second when he heard two guards coming his way. He was on the ground, right outside the harbor garage, with two pirates coming towards him. Keeping calm, the orange shinobi kept prone and steadied his breathing. This was just like waiting for those two shinobi to pass each other on the street during that early morning before Naruto painted the Hokage faces, the same morning he was to take his final exam.

As expected. The pirate thugs walked by him without so much as a pause. Giving Naruto the opportunity to run over to the back door. Which didn't even have a lock for Naruto to pick.

 _'Too easy.'_ Naruto smirked. He snuck inside, quiet as a ghost, and found himself inside exactly what it appeared to be on the outside. A ship garage.

 _'Way too easy.'_

Naruto made his way over to a nearby desk, littered with charts, and began to read over them. Unknown to him though, a shadowy figure was standing over him with a mallet in hand.

* * *

Gohan meanwhile was starting to become bored shitless after sitting alone in the tree for half an hour. He almost wished that he had gone with Naruto. Even if he had screwed it up at least something would have happened by now.

Gohan was one more bird chirp away from leaping down there when he felt two familiar energy signatures coming from behind him.

"About time they caught up." Gohan said to himself as he saw Videl and Jiraiya run up to his location.

"Yo Gohan, what's the situation?" Jirayia asked as he sat down next to Gohan on the tree branch.

"Naruto has gone to scope out the area and told me to wait here. I'm not really good with stealth." Gohan explained.

"A little help here?!" Videl exclaimed as she tried to climb the tree. Gohan effortlessly lifted Videl up to the tree.

"Thanks... So what's going on?"

"Well I haven't heard from Naruto in half an hour. Not since he went down into the harbor to investigate. The harbor has been quiet too. Is that normal?"

"With Naruto, nothing is normal." Jiraiya chuckled.

Right on cue, the group witnessed Naruto step out into the open of the harbor. "HEY GUYS, YOU CAN COME DOWN NOW!" He called out to them.

"Guess that's our cue." Gohan said as he suddenly scooped Videl up into his arms, causing her to yelp suddenly.

"Don't... Fly too fast, okay?" Videl asked. She was having a hard time keeping her composure with the butterflies in her gut.

"Sure thing." Gohan smiled before jumping into the air and flying down to the base to meet Naruto.

They found him standing next to four strong looking pirates all tied up and thrown into a pile. "Hey guy, how's it hanging?" Naruto asked nonchalantly.

Gohan touched down to the ground with Videl still in his arms. "I was going to ask you that." Gohan said.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't call you earlier. One of these guys attacked me, which alerted all the other guys, then the last guy tried to run away after I beat all his friends." Naruto said sheepishly.

"That was sloppy, brat. What did I train you for?" Jirayia stated.

"I dunno. Given the circumstances, I think he did pretty good." Gohan said simply.

"For thugs? Even if they were all chunin ninjas it shouldn't have taken him more than fifteen minutes to subdue or kill them. Let alone a half an hour." Jirayia scoffed.

"If you say so. I'm not a ninja so I have no idea what you're talking about." Gohan said simply.

"So what have you learned?" Jirayia asked Naruto.

"Not much. These guys are just a skeleton crew for the harbor. Which is mostly just used to repair the ships, not hide them. Apparently a week ago, the rest of the crew was taken out to sea by their captain to prepare for some massive operation. If these guys know where, I couldn't get it out of them." Naruto reported.

"Umm... I can stand, you know..." Videl blushed. She was still being held by Gohan. While she loved every second of it, this wasn't the time.

Gohan raised an eyebrow at Videl, then remembered the talk they had this morning. "Uh... Sorry." Gohan said sheepishly as he carefully set her down.

"It's okay. Just pay attention, okay?" Videl smiled.

"Oy, lovebirds. Flirt on your own time." Jirayia ordered.

"Hush you." Videl grumbled.

"F-f-flirt?!" Gohan blushed hard.

Jirayia just shook his head at the couple's antics.

"I-it's not like that! We're just friends!" Gohan defended, not realizing he had hurt Videl with that comment.

 _'Yea... Just friends...'_ Videl thought sadly.

"If you say so." Jiraiya shrugged.

"So let's compare notes." Jirayia stated. "We know that Blood Beard, the leader of the Red Eagles is secretly planning to try and take over during the 11th hour of this civil war. He has amassed a Navy of 100 ships to do it."

"Also, according to what we have learned, they plan to launch their fleet in two days." Videl added.

"Their entire fleet?" Naruto asked.

"I believe so." Videl said.

"So we need to find their entire fleet and take them out before they make land fall." Gohan deduced.

"Normally I would agree with you, Gohan. But we have no way of knowing where the fleet is. There numbers are so vast that they couldn't all be docked at a single port. And we would be at a disadvantage if we tried to fight them on water." Jirayia informed Gohan.

"Maybe for you ninjas, but for Gohan, it's a cinch." Videl said.

Jiraiya's eyes went wide as he remembered. "That's right. You're a Ki user, and you can fly."

"I can do far more than that, but you're right." Gohan confirmed.

"You're Ki blasts should allow you to take out the pirate ships while staying out of range of their cannons. It's perfect."

"Not that it would hurt him anyway." Videl started. "He caught bullets with his hands and crushed them into dust against the Red Shark Gang."

"Oh that's right. Forgot about them." Gohan confirmed.

"That barely happened a month ago and you forgot already?"

"It's not like I keep track of all the thugs I defeat. Do you keep a record of every bug you squash, Videl?" Gohan asked.

"Um..." Videl said sheepishly.

"That's what I thought." Gohan said, not realizing how terrifying he sounded right now.

"W-why are you talking to me like that...?" Videl asked with fear.

"Like what?" Gohan asked in confusion.

"You were starting to sound like some stuck up thug." Naruto stated.

"I did?"

"Yes you did... What's going on with you, Gohan? Ever since we came here, you haven't been acting like yourself." Videl asked with concern.

"I... I don't know... I guess I'm frustrated is all..." Gohan sighed.

"I understand... But, you can't take it out on everyone else..." Videl said softly as she rubbed his arm.

"Why not? I'm the most powerful one here, and yet so far I've been completely useless." Gohan said bitterly.

"Gohan... This isn't you. You wouldn't take it out on the innocent... What's really bugging you? You can tell me."

"Nothing...nothing else is bugging me." Gohan stated.

"Okay..." Videl sighed. She knew there was something else bugging him, but if he didn't want to talk about it, she wasn't going to press the matter. "If there is anything you want to get off your chest, you can tell me."

"...I'll tell you later..." Gohan sighed, hoping to end this conversation.

"Okay." Videl said softly.

That's when they both heard chuckling. A low, nasty kind of chuckling that soon turned into a howl of laughter. The Earthlings and the Shinobi all turned to see one of the tied up pirates laughing his ass off.

"And what is so funny?" Videl growled.

"You. You're funny! All you ninjas are so damn funny! Thinking that you'll be able to stop Blood Beard! But this is the Age of the Pirates! Your time is over, Mist Ninja!" The pirate spat.

"Does this guy seriously think that we're Mist Ninja?" Naruto asked while wearing his Leaf ninja headband like he always did. Naruto double checked to make sure that someone hadn't switched his headband out for Mist ninja's.

"Fools! Blood Beard will be coming in 2 days to wipe you all out! And then he'll sail towards the Hidden Mist Village and raze it to the ground!" The pirate cackled. "Your days of looking down on us pirates are over!"

"Oh shut up!" Videl snapped. "I'm not a ninja and Neither is Gohan. He's more than a match for your band of pickpockets."

"Pickpockets?! We're sea born conquers! Sons of the sea! The true heirs to the Land of Water. Not you, disruptive ninjas!"

"Oh save it for someone who cares." Videl scoffed.

"That reminds me." Jirayia said as he bit his thumb before flashing through some hand signs. "Summoning Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke cleared and in its place was a toad the size of a puppy wearing googles. "Yo, Jirayia!" The toad greeted.

"What can this one do?" Gohan asked with curiosity.

"I can tell you to shut your trap. That's what I can do." The toad replied rudely.

"I'm just curious is all... I'm new to all of this." Gohan defended.

"Gamakabo, behave." Jirayia scolded. "Sorry about that. Gamakabo is a messenger frog. I call upon him when I want to send messages quickly and secretly to anyone in the world."

"Ooohh. That's really cool!" Gohan said enthusiastically.

"Damn right I am." Gamakabo smirked as he puffed out his chest.

"Right. So, Gamakabo, I need you to deliver a message to Mei Terumi, the leader of the Mist rebels." Jirayia spoke.

"Yea alright. What's the message?" Gamakabo grumbled.

"Tell Mei that the Red Eagles have a fleet of 100 ships and they should prepare for an invasion. They mean to get into this civil war."

"Pirates?! Like they have a chance in hell." Gamakabo laughed.

"Maybe not. But I rather wouldn't give them the element of surprise. Not when Mei and her followers are the closest anyone has come to ending the civil war in Mist in over a decade." Jirayia stated grimly.

"Fair enough. Alright, I'll deliver your message. Later." The toad disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Now that that's settled, we just need to figure out what to do with our 4 captives." Jirayia stated as he looked over at the tied up pirates.

"Jailer toad?" Naruto suggested.

"Oh, before you do that..." Videl said as the wheels in her head started turning. She faced the pirates with a smug smirk on her face. "So, you really doubt Gohan's abilities?"

"Videl, what are you doing?" Gohan asked nervously.

"Proving a point." Videl said as she looked around the area and spotted a small, uninhabited island just outside of the harbor. "Blow up that island over there. Don't go too crazy, just enough to prove a point."

At that, the pirates all laughed. "Give it up! There's no way that puny brat could do anything to have him or you." one of the pirates sneered.

"You won't touch her." Gohan growled protectively.

"I'm not going to blow up an island, Videl. What if there were animals on it?" Gohan pointed out.

"It's a lifeless island with no significant importance to anyone. It used to be lively, but any life it once had was lost due to a fire." Jiraiya informed.

"Still, to just needlessly destroy it goes against my father's teachings."

"Just do it... It's just one island." Videl sighed.

"Quit showing off, bitch. there's no way your boyfriend is that strong." One of the pirates scoffed.

"I can't say I approve of showing off to a bunch of nameless lackeys, but just do it." Jirayia sighed.

"Oh alright..." Gohan sighed. He jumped up into the air where he floated, making sure the pirates were watching. He cupped his hands to his sides and a blue light started forming.

"Kaa... Meee... Haaa... Meee..." a blue orb formed in the palms of his hands and glowed brightly. He shot his hands forward towards the island, unleashing his charged energy. "HAAAA!" A fairly large beam shot out from him and towards the island. Once it hit, a massive dome of energy erupted from where the island once stood, creating a nearly blinding light as Gohan's attack completely destroyed the island, reducing it to nothing but dust. The ocean swallowed up the area where the island once was, making look as if there never was one.

"Holy shit..." Videl gasped out. In reality, she had never seen Gohan do that before.

Jirayia raised an eyebrow. He had only seen such a destructive force when he had faced off against that Tailed Beast all those years ago. Truly this boy was a force to be reckoned with.

"WOAH!" Naruto exclaimed. "That is freaking amazing!"

"HA! As if we didn't already know what genjutsu is!" The laughing pirate stated.

Gohan landed in front of the pirates. "I don't know what a genjutsu is, nor do I know how to use one. What you just saw, was the real deal and I was only using a small fraction of my power."

"Yeah right. What, do you think we were born yesterday?!" The pirate flatly denied.

"Judging by your ignorance of Ki usage, I'd say yes." Gohan said simply.

"The hell is a Ki user? Some kind of sex jelly?" The pirate spat, trying to get under Gohan's nerves.

"Ki is the energy our ancestors used centuries ago before Chakra was invented." Jiraiya informed. "Ki is the raw form of chakra before it is properly molded to create jutsus. These two do not belong to any ninja village, nor are they ninja's themselves. The title of Shinobi is reserved to myself and Naruto here."

"Huh?" His speech was lost in the ignorant pirates.

"Hey guys, take it from a fellow dunce. These guys don't know what you're talking about, and they don't care." Naruto stated.

"Well, then their ignorance will be their end, now wont it?" Videl said.

"I thought I took them down." Naruto pointed out.

"I meant the other pirates." Videl clarified.

"Oh..."

Jirayia ignored them both and summon his next giant toad. This time a massive plume of smoke formed and out came a blue toad the size of a house.

"Gamatetsu, how you doing?" Jirayia asked enthusiastically.

"Just retched..." Gamatetsu sighed. Jirayia sweat dropped when he saw that Gamatetsu was still his depressed self.

"How come?" Gohan asked.

"Life is just dreadful, isn't it? It's all so pointless..."

"Life is what you make of it. Life will throw you a curve ball, but it's up to you to hit that ball. If you strike out, just try again." Gohan said.

"Easy for you to say. I'm so fat that I can't even swing a baseball bat." Gamatetsu sighed.

"It's an expression. It means, don't give up on life, no matter how bad things seem." Gohan simplified.

 _'That's saying a lot coming from you...'_ Videl thought in wonder.

"(Sigh) I'll try..." Gamatetsu groaned, as if the idea of putting in any effort filled him with grief. "Why have you called me here, Jirayia? No doubt you have prisoners for me to hold."

"These pirates that Naruto tied up. Have at them." Jiraiya stated.

Gamatetsu sighed as he unraveled his enormous tongue and grabbed all four of the thugs with one swipe.

"Wait, what, NOOOOOO!" The laughing pirate cried out as the rest of his fellows just cried. In a snap they were swallowed whole by Gamatetsu who smack his chops. "Disgusting. They taste like they haven't bathed in a week."

"Ewwww... That's gross..." Videl protested.

"Try having to keep them inside your stomach for god knows how long." Gamatetsu sighed.

"Just take them to the Leaf village. Give Princess Tsunade my compliments." Jirayia instructed.

"Are you still on about her? Why won't you just give it up?" Gamatetsu sighed.

Videl gagged. "O-oh god... Don't make me imagine that..."

"Just go." Jirayia groaned. Great, now Gamatetsu had put him in a bad mood.

"Very well." Gamatetsu sighed before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

With that, the team quietly returned to the bar to rest after an exhausting morning of investigating.

"Well, at least we have a general idea of how things are going to play out." Videl mused.

"Yup. All we can do is prepare for their attack in two days. That means setting traps and points of defense for me and Naruto." Jirayia stated.

"And I can rain down hell on their ships." Gohan chimed in.

"And... I guess I'll sit and do nothing..." Videl sighed sadly.

"We can find something for you to do." Naruto paused in thought. What exactly could Videl do...

Naruto snapped his fingers. "Do you like explosives?"

"I try to avoid them."

"Well with a little practice, we could have you lobbing explosive kunai at the enemies should any of them sneak past us and land on the mainland." Naruto said.

"Kunai? I've practiced with some of those in the past." Videl said simply.

"Perfect. We'll brush you up on your throwing arm, then Pervy Sage can teach you how to make your own explosive tags." Naruto said.

"I may be a little rusty." Videl admitted when she spotted a dart board. "Toss me a kunai. I'm going to see if I can hit that dart board."

Naruto threw her one of his kunai, which Videl caught effortlessly. Videl then threw the knife at the dart board, which was some distance away from her and she got a perfect bulls eye. "Huh... Not as rusty as I thought."

"Not bad. But I'd expect an Academy student to be able to pull off that shot. We'll need you to be able to hit moving targets at least twice that distance before we let you act as our last line of defense." Jirayia stated.

"I don't use them in actual combat so..."

"You're going to." Jirayia stated, before turning to his appreciate. "Naruto, you've got today and tomorrow to get Videl up to genin standard."

That threw Naruto for a loop. "Me?"

"Yes you. Me and Gohan are going to be setting up the defenses out in the port. These pirates plan on sacking this entire town just to get to us and I don't plan on giving them an inch." Jirayia said firmly. The thought of protecting innocent lives steeled Naruto's resolve.

"Right."

"Count me in." Gohan said firmly.

"Hey, what's all this about defenses?" Oda called from behind his bar.

"The pirates aren't coming in a 10 ship raiding party. They are coming in a 100 fleet invasion. If I were you I'd get the people organized to leave by tomorrow afternoon at the latest." Jirayia stated.

"Shit, I'll get right on that. FUU! GET THE SPEARS READY!" Oda called out. Gohan and the rest then heard crashes coming from the back room.

"Alright. We've got a game plan. Any questions?" Jirayia asked his group.

"None that I can think of." Videl said.

"None from me." Gohan said as well.

"I'm good." Naruto chimed in.

"Good. Let's get to work. Gohan, follow me." Jirayia said as he made his way out the door.

"Right," Gohan said as he followed the older man.

"Come on Videl, we've got training to do." Naruto said as he too led her out the door.

"Right." Videl said as she followed close.

* * *

The next twelve hours were some of the most grueling hour either Videl or Gohan had ever spent. Videl was given a crash course on shinobi weapons combat from Naruto. Consisting of her defending and attacking enemies with kunai from close quarters and long range. While Gohan was assisting Jirayia in creating a hasty sea barricade. Under Jiraiya's guidance, Gohan was using his Ki enhanced strength to construct massive pikes out of logs to stop the incoming pirate ships from ever reaching the port. Even for Gohan, it was back breaking work.

Needless to say, by the end of the day the two Earthlings were exhausted. They stumbled into the bar for a quick meal from Oda (who was now wearing some kind of samurai helmet and carrying around a massive curved spear) and went straight to bed. Leaving Naruto and Jirayia downstairs to enjoy their own meal.

"Ugh... My back..." Gohan moaned as he trudged up the stairs.

"Your back? My everything..." Videl groaned.

The two of them were practically carrying each other up the stairs. Neither one of them even blushed at their close contact with one another.

"I need a shower..." Videl groaned in pain. "But I can't even stand..."

"We could always just share a bath and then collapse into bed." Gohan suggested, thinking of when he was exhausted from training with his little brother rather than the current situation that he was in.

"Ugh... Normally I would say no but that this point, I couldn't care less..."

"Say no to what?" Gohan asked before it dawned on him.

"OH GEEZ, I'M SORRY VIDEL, I WASN'T- Oof!" Gohan cried as he walked right into some figure even taller than he was.

"Sorry... We've been going through a rough day..." Videl apologized to the men before her.

"Oh no, it's alright. I wasn't looking where I was going either." The taller man replied. Videl and Gohan looked up to see that the man was in fact blue skinned. With sharp cheekbones and three scars cut across his cheeks like they were gills. He even displayed shark like teeth when he gave them both a friendly smile.

"I don't think I've seen you around... You one of the guests here...?" Videl asked.

"We just arrived this afternoon. Just passing through. This seemed like a good place to stop for the night." The shorter man spoke pleasantly. Videl shifted her attention over to him and just had to blush. He was an attractive man, no doubt about that. His eyes were narrow and calculating, let seem to convey a kind of gentleness that you would see in an older brother. The man had a young face, that was juxtaposed by his two deep lines across his cheeks. Giving him a weary look. Like he had seen too much at a young age. All in all, Videl felt like she could trust this man.

"Ah... Well, sorry to bump into you like that... We're just turning in from a long day..."

"I can imagine. The whole town seems to be bustling with activity. Is something going on?" The shorter man asked.

"There's a pirate invasion coming in two days. You best get out of here while you can." Gohan informed.

The two shifted around uneasily in their matching black cloaks with red clouds.

"I see, well we'll definitely keep that in mind. We're only staying for the one night anyway." The taller shark man responded.

"Alright... Now, if you'll excuse us... we're going to wash up and go to bed..." Videl yawned.

"Have a good night." The shorter man said politely.

"Thank you..." Gohan yawned.

They both walked past the two men, but the shorter one stopped Gohan for a second.

"Do you happen to know anything about a really strong energy in this area?" He asked.

"Energy...?" Videl mused, then it dawned on her. "Oh, that was probably Gohan the other night..." Videl said without even thinking.

"Gohan?" The man asked.

"That's me..." Gohan yawned.

"Really? That was you? Impossible. No one has that much chakra." The taller man stated. Something Itachi found ironic.

"I don't use chakra. I use Ki." Gohan said simply.

"Well now... There's an energy I haven't heard of in a while..." The taller man said in shock.

"You know of this, Kisame?" The shorter man asked.

"I'll tell you about it later. Short version is, its stronger than chakra and more difficult to control." The man now known as Kisame said.

"Unless you've spent years training to use it like I have." Gohan said.

"Is that right? I don't suppose you would be willing to give us a demonstration." The shorter man asked.

"Maybe in the morning... I'm really tired."

"Of course. We look forward to it." The shorter man smiled.

"Sure..." Gohan said before he looked up at the shorter man's headband. "That head band looks familiar..." Gohan mused.

That was when Videl noticed it. "Yea, it looks like Naruto's." Videl commented.

The shorter man did not react this, instead his partner's eyes widened for an instant without Videl or Gohan noticing.

Gohan looked closely at the shorter man's headband. Just like Naruto's, it had a spiral design in the shape of a leaf. Only this man's headband had a deep slash along the middle of the symbol.

"Are you a Leaf ninja like Naruto is?" Gohan asked.

Without skipping a beat, Itachi responded. "In a way. I'm more of former member of the Leaf forces. Now I'm a part of an international peacekeeping force, along with my partner, Kisame." Itachi said.

Gohan looked over and saw that Kisame also had a slash through his headband, although this one had a different design in the center of it.

"That's cool. I don't suppose you could help us out with this pirate invasion?" Videl asked.

"Unfortunately no. We have another mission we need to complete. It's top secret. So we would appreciate it if you didn't report our movements." Itachi replied in a way that both Gohan and Videl couldn't help but want to comply with.

"Okay. Well... See you in the morning I guess." Gohan yawned as he bid Kisame and Itachi a good night while he and Videl went into their room and closed the door.

"So... Are you joining me or no? I don't care either way..." Videl yawned.

At first, Gohan didn't respond. He was too caught up in his thoughts. _'A global peacekeeping force. Now there's an interesting idea.'_

"Gohan..." Videl called again.

"Huh, what?"

"I asked if you were going to join me or not... I don't care either way..." Videl repeated.

"Oh, I um... I'll let you go first. Give you your privacy and all." Gohan smiled nervously.

"Suit yourself..." Videl shrugged as she made her way into the shower.

"Most guys would jump at the chance to shower with a girl... I'm proud of you, Gohan... You're a true gentleman." Videl said from the bathroom.

Gohan smiled. He felt so relieved. For a second there he thought that he had made a really stupid decision.


	3. Chapter 3

Out on the dewy morning coast, a lone figure cloaked in black with red clouds stood over beach hidden out of sight from the villagers. The man known as Itachi stood perfectly still as the sun rose to greet the new day. As a perfect analogy to his relationship with his partner, a new figure emerged from the waves, interrupting the tranquility of the setting. As he stepped out of the waves, his body morphed back into its more human form and his sword reemerged on his back.

"I found those pirates and sank a couple of their ships. Just like you predicted, they're sending a vanguard fleet to come and sack the town early." Kisame reported.

"Good. They should run into a fisherman or two out to make the first catch of the day. With any luck they will bring word back to the village that the pirates are attacking early. This will cause Jiraiya to send Gohan out to preemptively defend the town. Creating openings for us to capture Naruto and the 9 Tailed Fox." Itachi stated emotionlessly, as he turned to walk back to the village.

"What about the Ki user though? He could still come back." Kisame pointed out.

"Leave him to me. Should things go according to plan. We should have both the jinchuriki and the Ki user as our captives before nightfall." Itachi stated as he disappeared into the forest.

* * *

The next morning, Videl once again woke up in Gohan's arms. His strong, yet, gentle arms. One was underneath her and around her belly while the other was...

 _'Oh god... His arm is on my boobs...'_ Videl blushed.

First he was grabbing her "marshmallow ass," now his arm was wrapped around her bosom. The thought of that happening to her twice in one week, not to mention the fact that he was being so protective over her and the comforting he gave her when she told him about her darkest hour, her heart melted that deep down, he really actually liked her the same way she did.

 _'Screw it... I'm going to enjoy this...'_ Videl smiled as she basked in being held by the strongest man she could ever hope to meet.

The night before had ended with the two of them showering separately, even though Videl was both proud and a little disappointed that Gohan didn't join her, it was the second night that they have slept together. It was also the second time Videl had woken up in his arms that were wrapped tightly around her. There was no mistaking it anymore.

Videl Satan was in love.

That was the only way to describe it, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she had extremely strong feelings for this man. Oh, if only her father could see her right now, he would flip shit.

 _'And it was him to say that I couldn't date anyone who wasn't as strong as him, so Gohan is completely fine since he outclasses my father by leaps and bounds.'_ Videl thought happily.

Videl snuggled closer to the Adonis of a man that slept beneath her. Really, what more could she possibly ask for in a guy? He was strong, handsome, kind, humble, smart (maybe not socially, but that just made him funny in a cute/endearing way). Videl's only regret was that it took her this long to realize it, but what could she do? It was how the dice fell.

 _'I just hope he feels the same way about me.'_ Videl thought.

Gohan stirred awake from Videl's thoughts as he heard bits and pieces of it. "What did you say?" Gohan yawned.

Videl's eyes went wide. He couldn't have heard her, could he?

"I didn't say anything."

"Oh... Must have dreamed it..." Gohan shrugged.

Then Gohan noticed that she was in his arms once again, only this time, one of his arms were wrapped around her chest, smushing her rather modest breasts. "Oh my god!" Gohan said as he quickly removed his arm. "I'm so sorry..."

"Oh no, its fine. It's one thing if it's your arm. It's not like you were fondling them like you were my ass, marshmallow boy." Videl teased.

"Ha ha... Yuk it up..." Gohan said sarcastically.

 **Knock knock knock.**

"Oy lovebirds, get up!" Jirayia called to them. There was one day left before the Red Eagle invasion and he wouldn't allow them to waste a minute of it.

"Yea yea, we hear ya..." Videl groaned as she removed herself from Gohan.

"I told you, its-"

"Forget about that for now." Videl said as she bent over backwards to crack her still sore back. "Oh! Damn, that hurts..." Videl groaned.

"You okay?" Gohan asked with concern.

"Yea... Just toss me one of those beans." Videl said as she started her morning stretches in nothing but her panties and her sports bra. She didn't care that Gohan saw her like that, or anyone else for that matter. Her lady parts were covered and that's all she cared about.

Gohan rummaged through his bag and produced two magic beans. He popped one in his mouth and handed the other to Videl. Instantly the two of them felt like they had just woken up from a 10-day stress-free vacation.

"Is it just me, or have you gotten stronger?" Gohan asked.

"Me?" Videl asked as she looked down at her own figure. Her muscles did seem a little more defined and she definitely felt lighter. "I don't know, maybe it's all of Naruto's ninja training? He really worked my ass off yesterday."

"Maybe..." Gohan shrugged, but in reality, he was having very different thoughts. 'She couldn't be... Could she?'

"Come on. We need to get ready." Videl sighed. The thought of 12 more hours of throwing kunai at Naruto's Shadow Clones did not appeal to her at all.

"Alright... But I think we both need new clothes." Gohan commented as he laid his eyes upon both his and Videl's dirty clothes on the floor.

"Normally I'd agree with you, but I think we have more important matters to deal with." Videl said as she picked up her least sweaty shirt and threw it on. She'd worry about cleanliness after the pirate armada wasn't threatening the townsfolk.

"Well, I was thinking I could grab a couple of my Gi's out of my clothing chest I have." Gohan suggested as he took out a capsule.

"That's a nice suggestion, but I doubt you have anything in my size." Videl said as she picked up the shorts she had on when they arrived here.

 **Knock knock knock.**

"Guys, Pervy Sage told me to get you. He said if you don't get up soon you'll have to start training without breakfast." Naruto called.

"We're up and we're getting ready!" Videl called.

Videl fed her legs through her shorts and pulled them up, hiding her white and pink panties from Gohan's sight. She put on her purple socks and then put on her boots while Gohan was putting on a fresh Gi. She made her way out of the door to meet Naruto who was waiting for them. "Have some patience why don't ya." Videl grumbled.

"Same clothes?" Naruto asked.

"It's all I've got since Gohan doesn't have anything that fits me." Videl sighed.

Naruto glanced up and down at Videl and had an idea. "I think you might be around my size if you want a spare outfit." Naruto offered.

"Thanks, but no. They'll just get messed up from training anyway." Videl wved off.

"Whatever. Let's hurry it up." Naruto said dismissively.

"Alright... As far as food, we both just had a senzu bean." Videl commented as she walked with Naruto.

"Good, that means we can move right to your training." Naruto smirked.

"Oh joy..." Videl groaned. Normally she wouldn't mind training, but this kind was the hardest she had ever had.

"Don't worry. I was told by Pervy Sage to focus on teaching you how to make explosive tags this morning. He figures if worse comes to worse, you'll be able to re-arm yourself and get away." Naruto reassured her as they made it to the top of the stairs.

"How do I do that?" Videl asked.

"With a little brush work." Naruto said as he produced an ink brush out of nowhere.

"Oh... I was never too good with calligraphy." Videl said hesitantly.

"Neither was I, but you'll get it." Naruto reassured her.

"Alright... Oh before that. Gohan was going to do a Ki demonstration for a couple of guys we ran into last night."

That gave Naruto pause. "A couple of guys? I thought we were keeping Gohan's Ki powers a secret?"

"We bumped into them last night and they said they were searching out a high energy from the other day. There was a tall one that seemed really strange, but nice. The shorter one was also nice, but their choice of outfits left a lot to be desired."

"Ugh, doesn't matter right now. We need to train." Naruto insisted.

"Alright. I figured you'd like to know since one of them wore a headband like yours."

"They were Leaf ninjas?" Naruto asked with a hint of excitement in his voice.

"One of them was. The other one had a different kind of headband." Videl said.

"Ugh, doesn't matter right now. We need to train." Naruto insisted. He pulled Videl down the stairs and out the door without another word.

Right as they made their way outside though, a young fisherman came sprinting past them and burst through the bar door.

"THE PIRATES ARE COMING!" He shrieked.

"What?!" Videl exclaimed. Her reaction matched everyone still left in the bar. One by one the customers looked up from their "five o'clock somewhere beers."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Videl asked seriously.

The scared boy, maybe two years her senior looked over and nodded frantically. "I saw it with my own eyes. Two dozen ships, all flying the blood red eagle colors. I swear it on me mum."

"Shit." Videl cursed as she ran back up the stairs to fetch Gohan.

Naruto meanwhile ran to his master's side. "Pervy Sage!"

"I heard. Listen Naruto, you need to complete Videl's training." Jiraiya said quickly.

"What? But the Pirates-

"Are not showing their entire hand, and neither should we."

Videl flung open the door to their bedroom with a frightened look on her face. "Gohan! The pirates have arrived early!"

"What?!" Gohan exclaimed as he finished making sure his senzu beans were properly attached to his belt. "Dammit... Let's go!" Gohan said as he and Videl dashed down stairs.

By the time they made it down the stairs Jiraiya was already there to greet them.

"Gohan, two dozen pirate ships were spotted east of here. I figure you can handle it. Videl, you'll stay here and train with Naruto."

"Right." Gohan said as he searched out with his senses for the pirates. They weren't hard to find. "Got them. About 2 miles away."

"Get after them. I'll follow behind you as soon as I can." Jirayia stated.

"Right." Gohan said as he dashed out the door and took to the sky at full speed, creating a sonic boom as he flew away.

"Damn that's fast..." Naruto gasped.

"Yea..." Videl said dreamily.

"Ahem..." Jiraiya said to get Videl's attention.

"Oh... sorry. Anyway, let's get started." Videl said sheepishly.

"Right, back to the training grounds." Naruto ordered as he led Videl deep into the woods. Running past the bar where Oda was rounding up bar patrons to put spears in hands. Naruto and Videl knew at a glance that the villagers could only muster a meager defense if only one pirate ship landed. Against an armada they would have no chance. The four of them would need to stop the pirates at the harbor or not at all. With that in mind, Videl sprinted faster through the woods, actually overtaking Naruto.

He looked on in surprise. 'Since when can she run so fast?' He thought before pouring on his own speed to catch up to her.

They soon arrived at their clearing where Naruto had set up several dozen targets for Videl to practice on. Some were nailed to tree trunks, some of them swinging from tree branches, and others were hidden behind rocks to give that extra challenge.

"So I take it we're doing target practice." Videl assumed.

Naruto tossed Videl a handful of kunai knives. "Let's see how you do."

Videl fumbled with the blades a bit but made sure she had all of them. "These are primitive to what I'm used to."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "And what exactly are you used to?"

".45 Cal, 9mm, glock semiautomatic, AR-15, and then my fists." Video listed off.

"...and those are...?"

"Oh...I take it you don't have firearms here then." Video guessed.

"Um, we have jutsus that set your arms on fire." Naruto guessed.

Video deadpanned. "I meant guns..."

"Oh guns...you mean those things like fireworks? I think we have a few of them used at this one prison. Blood Prison. Other than that you might find a few being used by pirates and thieves." Naruto said.

"I've got a few on me." Video said as she bent down and pulled out a short nose 357 revolver that was in her sock. "I use this one in case of an emergency."

"Oh cool." Naruto said in awe. He had never seen a gun up close before.

"I hardly ever use it and it's not loaded." She said as she handed it to Naruto to look at.

"Cool." Naruto said as he tried to pull the trigger.

 **BANG!**

THE gun went off while facing sideways and hitting the target on one of the trees.

Video gasped. "I could've sworn that wasn't loaded..."

"Whew, that was exciting." Naruto exclaimed.

"Let me see it for a sec." Videl said, carefully taking the gun from Naruto. She popped open the chamber and saw the empty casing in the firing housing, but it was the only one. "There was only one in there... but I could've sworn I emptied it." Videl mused.

"Well I guess you can never be too careful." Naruto mused as he created a dozen Shadow Clones.

"No, you can't." Video agreed as she closed the chamber and by put it back in her sock. "So, I'm supposed to hit the targets with these knives, right?"

"Actually, I was thinking that we could speed things up. I want you to chase down my clones and hit them with your kunai." Naruto said casually.

"What? Won't that hurt you?" Videl asked with concern.

Naruto just laughed. "No, it won't hurt me at all."

"Well, okay...if you say so..." Videl said a little nervously.

The clones all jeered at her, trying to get a rise out of her so that she would get angry and attack them. They blew raspberries, spanked the behinds, and mocked her sharpshooting skills.

That got on Videl's nerves and her eyes flashed from blue to teal for a brief moment, which made Naruto pause after seeing that.

 _'She got some kind of kekkie genkai?'_ He wondered as Videl threw a kunai directly into the forehead of one of the faraway clones, earning shocked looks from all his brothers, then back at her.

"Who's next..." Videl growled with a feral look on her face, the likes Naruto had never seen before as her eyes flashed again.

The clones all dashed away in different directions.

Videl gave chase to the nearest clone and was hot on his heels, with a swift motion, she fired her knife at the clone, striking it in the back of the head.

The clone fell forward and poofed out of existence, leaving behind the kunai that Videl had thrown.

She picked it up as she ran and went after the next, taking down every one she came across and picking up her Kunai as she did so.

 _'Damn...she hasn't even had any formal training and she's easily Chunin level.'_ Naruto thought.

 _'This is actually kind of fun.'_ Videl thought as she struck another clone right in the shoulders, it too dissipated.

She continued her onslaught until only 2 clones remained, yet she still had energy to spare, like she wasn't even tired.

The two clones then decided to fight back. They leapt right into Videl's face and started attacking her from both sides with hand to hand combat.

Thanks to Videl's mixed martial arts training, she was able to put up a really good fight, blocking and dodging most of the attacks the clones threw at her.

 _'She has been trained before, right? She has to.'_ Naruto thought. He observed her footwork and saw her correct her stance mid battle. _'Definitely taught.'_

She then found an opening on one of the clones and slashed her kunai across his chest, causing him to disappear.

It was now one on one and Videl had the momentum.

Using her momentum, she sweep-kicked the last clones legs out from under him, causing him to fall, where Videl swiftly drove her kunai into his chest, dispelling him quickly.

 _'Damn...she's good.'_ Naruto thought.

Videl stood up and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Whew...that was fun."

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Naruto asked in awe.

"Self-taught by studying fights with former champion martial artists mostly." Video replied.

"Awesome, are martial artists like the ninjas of your world?" Naruto asked.

Videl frowned. "We don't have ninjas in our world anymore."

"What? Why not?"

"Over time with new technological advances, they weren't needed anymore, so they just kinda faded away."

"W-what?" Naruto asked sadly.

"I often asked myself that as well. We study their culture, but that was the gist of it. I'm certain there was so much more we could learn from them..."

"Well I've never much for history, but I can't imagine a world without ninjas." Naruto admitted.

"Yeah..." Videl said in a somber tone. "Well, what else do I need to do?"

"Can you mold Chakra?" Naruto asked.

"No, but Gohan was going to teach me how to use Ki." Videl replied.

"Well I'm no expert to teach you. If only Sakura-chan were here..." He said to himself.

"Who? Sakura?" Videl asked.

Naruto looked up. "Huh? What?"

"You said the name 'Sakura.' She a girlfriend of yours or something?" Videl asked with curiosity.

That's when Naruto's cheeks grew ruby red with embarrassment.

"Whaaa...no no no no..." He quickly replied. "Sakura is just a friend. My teammate." He corrected.

Videl smirked. She knew that response from anywhere. Her women's intuition was going off like crazy. "Uh huh...sure she is..."

"Sh-she is! Really. I don't even...well...I mean I..." Naruto stammered.

Videl sighed. "Listen, I wasn't born yesterday. It's evident that you like this girl, us women can see it a mile away. Did you even ask her out yet?"

Naruto sighed. "Yes...several times..."

"Several..." Videl breathed out, then she understood. "She likes someone else, doesn't she?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Our teammate Sasuke. My best friend."

"Hoo boy..." Videl sighed as she sat down on the grass. "Let me tell you a little something about women...their feelings about guys are fickle, they change like the wind over time. After a while, she'll probably get over him and look for someone better." Videl explained.

"There is no one better than him." Naruto responded.

"Don't be so sure. If this Sasuke is what I think he is, he's probably just some handsome face and this is probably just a childhood crush. Crushes don't usually last long and I speak from experience believe it or not. Girls want a man who will treat them right, not muscles and a handsome face. That would just be a bonus."

"Yet you like Gohan."

"Huh? No, not like that." Videl replied.

"Oh come on. I see how close you two are."

Videl sighed. "The reason why we're so close is that we've both lived shitty lives. We lean on each other for emotional support, as good friends. Besides, he's too much of a nice guy for me. Don't get me wrong, I like nice guys, but he's waaay too nice, almost to a fault."

"Huh, he reminds me of another friend of mine. Rock Lee." Naruto said.

"I don't really know who that is. But my point is, she'll come around. Give her a chance to figure out what she wants and who knows? She might just surprise you." Videl smiled.

Naruto gave a small smile back. "Thanks Videl. That means a lot."

Videl stood up and patted him on the shoulder. "Anything for a friend."

"You bet." Naruto grinned.

"So is that it? I mean, I'm sure Gohan is fairing with the pirates easily, but we should lend him a hand if we're all finished here."

"Yeah, I just gotta teach you..." Naruto paused when he thought that he heard something. He looked past Videl and saw to his horror a black figure he had only remembered from his nightmares.

"Get back Videl!" Naruto shouted as he pushed Videl behind him.

"What? Whats wrong?" Video asked.

"It's HIM..." Naruto darkly stated.

"Him?" Videl asked before looking at the figure that was now in view. She instantly recognized him from the other day. "Wait a minute, I remember you. You're Itachi, right? Why are you out here?" Videl asked kindly.

"You know him?!" Naruto exclaimed, suddenly wary of her being behind him.

"Yeah. Gohan and I bumped into him and his buddy at the inn the other night. What's the problem? He seems nice."

 _'Son of a bitch!'_ Naruto thought as he kept his eyes low. Careful not to meet Itachi in the eyes, otherwise he could trap Naruto in a nightmare genjutsu that not even the most skilled ninja could break free from.

"Just run back to the tavern. Get Pervy Sage and Gohan. I'll try to delay him." Naruto said as he made his signature cross sign.

"What are you..." She said as her eyes glanced towards Itachi.

In a flash she saw nothing but red, followed by a negative world where all light was dark and all darkness was light.

"Nothing personal, but I need you out if the way for a bit." Itachi spoke in a booming voice, coming from everywhere and nowhere.

Back in the real world, Videl slumped over against Naruto, her body limp and her mind unconscious.

"What did you do to her..." Naruto growled.

"I merely knocked her out so she would stay out of the way, nothing more." Itachi replied.

"You bastard. Don't think that I'm going to go down so easily. I'm not the same kid you fought three years ago." Naruto said as he created two dozen Shadow Clones.

"Calm yourself. She is not a part of our fight and is therefore an innocent bystander. I don't hurt innocent bystanders. Now, if you would be so kind as to take her somewhere safe as neither one of us wants her hurt."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Naruto snapped as two of his clones picked up Videl and fled to safety. "But thank you..."

Itachi nodded as he spread his stance.

"Now, show me how much you have improved." He said as the Naruto clones leapt towards the Leaf rogue.

* * *

Back over with Gohan and Jiraiya, the two of them were tearing shit up with the pirates.

As Jiraiya was fighting against a bunch of pirates that were giving him issues, Gohan was plowing through then like a bulldozer through a brick wall.

"Needle Lion's Mane Jutsu!" Jiraiya shouted as his hair grew larger than him and swept across the deck of one of the larger pirate ships, sending the entire crew overboard with their skin cut into by a million pins.

The men screamed as they toppled over.

"Ha ha! Tell all your friends, this is why you don't mess with the great and gallant JiraiYAAAAAHHH!" Jiraiya cried as Gohan accidentally fired a massive Ki blast into the bow of the ship in order to sink it.

"Sorry!" Gohan yelled from his position.

"Damn kids. No respect for their elders." Jiraiya muttered.

"Tell me about it." One of the older pirates said, his body stuck inside the wall leading into the captain's quarters.

"Thank you." Jiraiya replied.

As Gohan finished with half a dozen ships, a dozen more took their place.

"They just keep coming." Gohan said when he landed next to Jiraiya.

"I think that I might have to pull out my own big guns." Jiraiya said as he chomped on his thumb hard enough to draw blood.

"Summoning a toad?" Gohan asked

"It's my shtick." Jiraiya said.

Jiraiya slammed down his palms and a massive seal spread out across the poop deck before exploding into smoke. As soon as it cleared, Gohan found himself standing on the head of the largest toad he had ever seen. Complete with a short sword the size of a train, a tobacco pipe the size of a tree, and a dark blue jacket on its back with the symbol for Chief Toad written in kanji.

"Woah! Awesome!" Gohan exclaimed in awe.

 **"Eh? Jiraiya! Did you put another weird kid on my head!?"** The Toad spoke with a booming voice.

"Sorry." Gohan said as he floated off the toad's head and in front of him. "I didn't mean to upset you." Gohan bowed respectfully.

 **"Eh? What the Hell? Is this kid a Ki user?"**

"Yes he is, but it's a long story. Anyway, we have a fleet of pirates terrorizing this town. Feel like cleaning up?"

 **"Well seeing as you interrupted my Shogi game right before I was about to lose, you caught me in a good mood."** Gamabunta smirked.

"Good to hear." Jiraiya smirked before turning to Gohan. "You got anything else in your arsenal that can scare these guys away?"

"...yes...but you might want to find cover." Gohan informed seriously.

"In the middle of the ocean?" Jiraiya asked.

"Then just stay back. Seas are about to get rough." Gohan said before blasting away to meet the fleet.

stopped just before the fleet. "Leave now or suffer!" Gohan yelled in a booming voice for all of them to hear.

"Fuck you!" One of the pirates shouted back as a few of his buddies mooned Gohan.

"Your funeral." Gohan said before channeling his energy, sparks arcing around his body.

 **"His power is skyrocketing. What is this kid doing?"** Gamabunta asked.

"I don't really know for sure. This kid is still a mystery to me." Jiraiya responded before a shockwave erupted from Gohan.

"HAAAAAAAA!" Gohan shouted as a golden aura appeared. He grunted as his power continuously rose to new heights, his eyes turning completely teal and his hair flickering from black to gold a few times before going solid golden blond.

"UuuhAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A large golden sphere of energy erupted from within him, bathing the entire area in a bright golden light.

The light eventually settled and everyone's eyes were now on Gohan. He was wreathed in an aura that looked like golden flames, his hair was completely golden blond and his eyes were teal. But the most noticeable change, was the shear output of his power.

* * *

Even 3 miles away, Naruto had to stop his fight with Itachi to look over at the direction from which the energy spike was coming from.

Itachi felt it too. He looked on in awe as a golden light shined brightly in the sky, even in broad daylight.

 _'Impressive. I'll have to wrap this up quickly. I can't risk trying to fight that one. Especially not head on.'_ Itachi thought. His Sharingan quickly darted towards Naruto who was lunging at him with a massive Rasengan.

 _'Grand Fireball jutsu!'_ Itachi thought as he sent a massive fireball larger than the man himself towards Naruto as Itachi leapt out of harm's way. Naruto had no choice in midair but to have his Rasengan break apart the fireball as the flames nipped at his heels.

There was no time to rest as Naruto was soon deflecting 8 expertly thrown shuriken with his kunai. Itachi was never one to give his opponents an inch, yet Naruto wasn't just any opponent.

* * *

Back with Gohan and Jiraiya, the old sage and the huge Toad could only look on in awe at the unreal sight of Gohan's transformation.

"I had no idea he had this much power..." Jiraiya said in awe.

 **"He's going to shake up the world. Maybe even more than that appreciate of yours."** Gamabunta mused.

"He is leagues above Naruto in that form. Whatever this kid really is, he has enough power to actually destroy our world a hundred times over."

 **"Might be safer to take him out then."**

"No... the boy may have extraordinary powers, but his heart is pure and so are his intentions. If his stories check out when we get back to the Leaf, then this kid is a hero."

 **"Heh, heroes..."** Gamabunta scoffed.

Meanwhile, the pirates weren't sure what to think. This was something none of them had ever seen before and even fewer knew of the tales of Ki users.

"What the hell are you bildrats doing!? Fire the cannons at the bastard!" The captain shouted.

"Cannons?" Gohan raised an eyebrow. "What are they going to do?"

One of the ships fired a shot aimed directly at Gohan. As the cannon ball left the cannon, it quickly made its way to its target, only to be caught my Gohan with a single hand.

"...this was supposed to do something?" He asked in general.

"H-he caught it..." One of the pirates gasped in awe.

"You whoreson! Roll over die like the rest of them!" The captain shouted.

Gohan took the cannon ball and threw it back at the ship, 100 times faster than when it was fired at him, piercing straight through the ship like it was made of paper.

"W-what the hell is this kid?" The captain said shakily. Never before had he seen power like this.

"Keep firing! Keep firing or we're all dead!" The captain shouted.

Gohan was getting bored with their antics, so he flew down and met the captain face to face.

"End this foolishness now and leave. there is no sense in wasting your lives against one man who could wipe you out with a breath." Gohan reasoned.

The captain reached for his sword and slashed at Gohan with all his might. The blade bounced off Gohan like he was made of solid steel and reverberated down the pirate's arm.

"I've got my pride, damn it!" The captain shouted as he pulled out his flintlock pistol and shot it point blank at Gohan's face.

The musket ball bounced off his forehead like it was just a rubber ball and Gohan sighed. He grabbed onto the pistol and wrenched it from the pirate's hands and then crushed it into dust.

"I will say this again; leave this place and never return." Gohan warned.

All around Gohan, the pirates looked on in fear. How could any one man be so strong. Not even ninjas were that tough. Maybe they really should just surrender.

The Captain looked around as his men began dropping their weapons. His rage grew.

"Grrrrr, COWARDS! THE LOT OF YOU!" The Captain bellowed. He then dropped into a stance and did something nobody expected. He started flashing through hand signs before stopping at the sign of the rat.

"You're a ninja, boss?!" One of the pirates exclaimed.

"Yeah that's right, I'm a ninja! And I'd rather blow his whole vessel sky high with everyone on it before I surrender to this landlubber!" The Captain exclaimed.

"Gohan, watch out! That's a Deadman jutsu!" Jiraiya shouted.

"A what?" Gohan asked in confusion.

"A Deadman jutsu. My guess is that this rogue ninja wired a crap ton of explosive tags to this ship which that jutsu activates. If he let's go of the hand sign even the slightest bit, the whole ship explodes." Jiraiya explained, making every pirate in earshot turn white as a sheet.

Gohan turned to face the pirate captain. "You would seriously waste your life and the lives of your crew in a futile attempt to kill me?"

"I'd die with honor as befits a warlord of the sea! I was going to unite this country under my banner! Finally end the decades of in-fighting from those damn shinobi! What my own village of the Mist could never do! But then you had to go and trample over my dreams and the dreams of my men!"

"Everyone deserves to live their own way of life. Just because you don't agree with how they live their lives, doesn't give you an excuse to kill innocent people." Gohan glared.

"Shut up! What do you know about our lives here!? You damn outsider!" The Captain shouted as he began to loosen his fingers. The crewmen all pleaded for him not to do it.

"No!" Gohan shouted. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a hold of the man's hands and held onto them with an iron grip so he wouldn't release the jutsu. "Get off this ship! All of you!"

The crew all scrambled like rats off of the ship. Some diving off inti the water, trying desperately to swim to safety, while others ran around screaming and praying to their gods. All the while the Captain was singing. "YO-HO, YO-HO, A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR- **BOOM!**

The ship exploded into a million pieces of flaming splinters, leaving Gohan sunk underneath the waves, his hands grasping at a man that was no longer there.

 _'He really did it...'_ Gohan thought as he let the current drift him for a bit. He offered himself a moment of silence for the man. Crazy bastard or not, he was one more soul that the half Saiyan couldn't save.

Gohan reoriented himself and swam towards the surface. He was soon 10 feet, then 5 feet, then 10 feet-what?

As fast as Gohan swam, the surface never seemed to come any closer, it was like he was stuck in place a mere few feet from the surface and sweet, precious oxygen.

 _'What the hell is going on? I can't I get up there?'_ Gohan thought. He looked around and saw nothing at first, but upon closer inspection, he saw something forming in front of him.

Some kind of figure, looked like it had fins. It got closer and closer and Gohan looked back and saw the ocean's surface getting farther and farther away.

 _'So, he's the one keeping me here.'_ Gohan thought.

Gohan fired a Ki blast at the fish-man who quickly barrel rolled out of the way before he swam past Gohan faster than the Super Saiyan could react. Gohan flinched as his mysterious new opponent slashed at his chest with its teeth and cut through his skin. The figure then swam away to safety before Gohan could counter attack.

 _'What the hell is he...'_ Gohan thought as he clutched his chest. Then he came up with an idea after analyzing the situation. _'He's fast in water and he can dodge a normal Ki blast. So, I need to use one he can't dodge.'_

Gohan put two fingers to his forehead and charged up his Ki to that point until the tips of his fingers where sparking.

 _'Thank you Mr. Piccolo.'_ Gohan thought before pointing his fingers out to the man and fired a super-fast spiraling beam of death. This time, the attack hit is mark, piercing the man just to the left of his heart.

"Gah!" Kisame shouted as he clutched his chest wound, his blood seeping into the sea water surrounding him, but he would not yield.

 _'Wait a minute.'_ Gohan was finally able to recognize the man. _'Kisame? Why are you attacking me?'_ Gohan thought to him.

 _'You can read minds? Intriguing...'_ Kisame smirked. _'Look kid, it wasn't anything personal, I'm just following orders.'_

Gohan scowled. _'Are you behind the pirate attacks?'_

 _'Nope. Just a happy coincidence.'_ Kisame smirked.

 _'So why do this? What have I done to you?'_

 _'I just said it wasn't personal. Just following orders.'_ Kisame said as he flashed through his hand signs.

 _'Five Hungry Sharks jutsu!'_

Gohan was now more alert than ever. He learned the hard way in the past to never trust someone you've just met, so he was still a little cautious about him after meeting him. Now it seemed his precautions were just. He quickly put up his guard as 5 sharks made their way towards him. Then he had an idea.

Channeling his Ki a certain way, he threw out an electrical charge that zapped Kisame and his sharks.

Gohan's attack gave him some backlash, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle thanks to the level he was at. Kisame and his sharks on the other hand, was a different story.

The sharks dissipated and so did Kisame into a cloud of bubbles.

 _'Gotta love water clones.'_ Kisame thought as he managed to land a hit from behind.

"YOW!" Kisame yelled out in pain as he drew back his hand, his fingers bent in directions they shouldn't be.

 _'I would advise against trying that again.'_ Gohan thought to Kisame.

 _'I cut you before! What happened?'_ Kisame cursed.

 _'You caught me off guard the first time. Now it won't be so easy.'_

In the time it took for Kisame to blink an eye, his face was met with a rock-hard punch that nearly knocked him out.

 _'Kid hits like a damn freight train...'_ Kisame growled. He might have bit off more than he could chew.

 _'Yea, I've been told that.'_ Gohan said nonchalantly.

Gohan turned around to face the shark man. _'Perhaps you should give up.'_

Kisame was taken aback. _'Give up? Why would I do that? You're trapped here!'_

Gohan shook his head. _'Only because I'm at half my max power.'_

 _'You lie...'_ Kisame growled.

 _'Look, you broke your hand when you punched me, I rendered your jutsu useless, I pierced your chest with one of my attacks and the most you could do was scratch me, while my guard was down. Plus, to top it off, my transformation has one more level to it. That means I can break out of your trap at any moment.'_

 _'You sure like to brag, don't you punk?'_ Kisame thought.

 _'Then tell me I'm wrong. I'm trying to spare you from getting hurt more. The choice is yours. Leave now with what you have, or you'll be limping home.'_

 _'You've got a lot of nerve asking me to surrender. I might be a rogue ninja, but we Mist ninja have our pride of never surrendering. Even in the face of death. So either fight me all out or watch as I make you regret underestimating me.'_ Kisame stated.

Gohan sighed. _'As you wish...'_ He thought before powering up again, this time he was throwing out so much energy that the water started boiling.

 _'Interesting power you've got there. Mind if I have a sample?'_ Kisame thought as he once again appeared behind the Saiyan with his sword raised.

Gohan had seen this trick one too many times and easily dodged his swing, yet Kisame was still smirking. Gohan realized why when he felt his energy being drained from him. As if all the energy he had cast out into the water was instantly absorbed.

Gohan's power dropped so much that he lost his Super Saiyan form.

 _'W-what did you do...?'_ Gohan thought.

 _'I used my sword to absorb your power. I must say, you have a very unique energy. You're not a chakra user are you?'_ Kisame smirked.

 _'No... I use Ki...'_

 _'Wait...what...?'_ Kisame heard about how Ki users have nearly limitless energy. Now he wasn't sure if he could actually beat this kid and was confirmed when his power surged again.

 _'I'm not playing around anymore.'_ Gohan instantly flashed back into a Super Saiyan, blowing Kisame back.

Then he pushed further.

"RRRAAAAAAAHHHH!" Gohan's energy exploded, blowing the water around him into the air, creating a crater in the water that exposed the seabed below.

 _'Looks like I've done all I came here to do.'_ Kisame thought to himself as he took this opportunity to disappear into the ocean.

Gohan, now a fully powered Super Saiyan, looked like a golden sun demigod to the mere mortals from their pirate ships. Most were so scared that they turned their ships around to flee, but not all of them.

Many saw this as a perfect all or nothing opportunity and focused their fire on the town.

Screams of fear and pain rang out with each cannon ball that struck the town, piercing the Demi Sayians ears to the point where he was so enraged, he wasn't going to spare anyone.

* * *

Naruto and Itachi looked over from their battle again. Seeing the extremely gentle Gohan effortlessly destroy an armada of ships like some vengeful hand of God was definitely not something Naruto saw every day.

He rained down Ki blast after Ki blast in a machine gun like fashion, sparing no pirate or stow-away rat as he did so.

"Unreal..." Naruto breathed out.

 _'Seems that was all the time that Kisame could buy for me. Incredible, Gohan is even more impressive than the legends of Ki users speak of.'_ Itachi thought.

Deep within the depths of Naruto's body, the Nine Tails saw Gohan's power through his captor's eyes.

 _ **"I have never seen such power before...to think, someone who has the power to out match even my own. It seems surreal..."**_ Kyuubi said to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jiraiya and Gamabunta could only watch in a mixture of awe and horror.

 **"Well I'm feeling useless."** Gamabunta thought aloud.

"Hey, at least you got to see a show." Jiraiya replied.

 **"Hmmm..."** Gamabunta croaked. He hated being summoned without a purpose. One too many times Jiraiya had used him to show off and now he was supposed to play spectator?

"I wonder...I wonder if he was the one I was meant to train..." Jiraiya mused to himself.

 **"Not that old farts prophecy again..."** Gamabunta groaned. **"You'd think that you'd have a little for faith in your own student first."**

"Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking out loud is all. This kid would've surpassed me years ago."

 **"He's surpassing you now."**

"Yes, I know. At first I didn't believe him when he said he's part alien. Now after seeing what he can do..."

 **"What? What does that have to do with anything?"**

"A lot. According to him, his race is known to possess amazing feats of strength and power. Far beyond the capacities of humans."

 **"I see..."** Gamabunta exhaled a drag from his massive pipe, creating an actual cloud of smoke.

Once all the ships we're destroyed, the reality of the situation finally hit Gohan when his rage subsided. He looked on in horror at the devastation he created because of his rage.

"Oh God...what have I done..." Gohan breathed out shakily.

"You just saved this entire country from one more civil war down the line!" Jiraiya shouted up at him. "That's what you've done!"

"I... I killed...so many people..." Gohan said in horror, his hands trembling as he powered down from super Saiyan 2.

 _'So powerful, and yet so pure of heart.'_ Jiraiya thought.

Gohan slowly floated down to the docks where he immediately collapsed to his knees and broke down. He never liked killing, even if it was for the right reasons. The only one he killed was Cell, but he cherished all life. The fact he slaughtered thousands, even to save an entire country, was more than he could bare.

Jiraiya didn't say a word. He just walked up next to Gohan and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He could feel the boy shaking in horror of what he just accomplished. It wasn't every day you came across a kindhearted warrior.

"I... I feel sick..." Gohan chocked out.

"Here, drink this." Jiraiya said as he offered him a flask.

"I don't drink..." Gohan said quietly.

"It's not alcohol." Jiraiya replied.

Gohan hooded and took the flask. He slammed down whatever was in it and he seemed to feel a little better.

"Feeling better?" Jiraiya asked.

"A little...what was that?"

"Ma's special bug juice. Great for calming nerves." Jiraiya replied.

"Bug juice, huh?" Gohan said as he sat down and sighed. "Tastes like my mom's centipede eel stew."

"Well as my master always said, 'nothing lifts the spirits like genuine home cooking.'"

"Yeah...just like my Grampa says, even though he sucks at cooking."

"Same with my grandpa, the old pervert." Jiraiya chuckled.

"Just like you, huh?" Gohan joked.

"Hey, I'm nothing like that old skirt chaser. For you see. I am..." Jiraiya leapt back to better strike a pose. "A Super Pervert!"

Gohan just chuckled and shook his head. "Thanks though. I needed that."

"Anytime kid. Now come on, we need to find Naruto and Videl." Jiraiya stated urgently.

"Right." Gohan agreed, his focus now turned to his friends. He tuned his senses and found Naruto, but he could feel his energy depleting fast.

"Naruto is in trouble, I can't sense Videl."

"Shit, I was afraid of that. He's probably fighting Itachi."

Now Gohan felt even more betrayed. "Then grab on. I'll get us there faster."

Jiraiya nodded as he hopped aboard Gohan's back.

"Hang on." Gohan warned. He felt Jiraiya's grip tighten and then blasted off towards Naruto.

As they flew across the sky, Gohan couldn't help but notice a highly concentrated red energy disc flying towards them.

"The Hell is that?" Gohan asked.

"DODGE IT!" Jiraiya cried as the disc sailed closer and closer.

Gohan quickly veered away from the disc and it flew past him.

"What was that?" Gohan asked.

"If I'm right, it was Itachi." Jiraiya said as he scanned the treetops, looking for the source of the attack.

"There!" He points at a small hole in the tree line with sheared leaves.

Gohan nodded and swiftly changed directions to head towards the course of his attacker.

They landed inside the forest and Jiraiya wasted no time calling out to their attacker.

"I know you're here, Itachi. Show yourself!"

Gohan stood with his guard up, his senses on full alert.

A figure dressed in a black and red cloak stepped out from behind a nearby tree, his eyes swirling with a terrifying red.

"Itachi Uchiha." Jiraiya growled.

"Gohan. Go find Naruto and Videl and run." Jiraiya ordered.

"I should help you." Gohan insisted.

"No. This one is completely out of your league. He can't be beat with brute force." Jiraiya warned.

Gohan was hesitant, but nodded. "Alright. Take one of these in case you need it." Gohan said as he reached into his pouch and tossed him a bean.

"Um...thank you." Jiraiya said as he pocketed the bean in his back pocket.

 _'It's a senzu bean. It fully restores your health and energy when you're low.'_ Gohan said mentally.

 _'That sounds damned useful. Thanks.'_

Gohan nodded and flew off to find Naruto.

The two legendary titans from the Leaf stood opposite each other. One a traitor to his village and the other a champion.

"So Itachi, are things going according to plan?" Jiraiya said darkly.

"Yes, I would say so." Itachi replied.

* * *

Back with Gohan...

Gohan spotted Naruto fighting off... _'Itachi? but...oh wait, clone.'_ Gohan thought before skidding to a halt next to Naruto.

"Pirates are taken care of." Gohan informed with hurt evident in his tone. "Where's Videl?"

"Gohan? What are you-LOOK OUT!" Naruto cried as he pushed Gohan and himself out of the way of a massive fireball that Itachi had sent their way.

The two ducked and rolled behind a tree as Naruto sent a few Shadow Clones to keep Itachi occupied.

"She's knocked out. Itachi used his genjutsu on her and she's been lying unconscious in a field not too far from here." Naruto quickly explained.

Gohan snarled a bit, but nodded. "At least she's safe."

"Yeah, I got Shadow Clones looking after her. Now where is Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked.

"Um...fighting Itachi."

"Is he using a Shadow Clone?"

"I assume."

"Damn, then it's a trick. This bastard Itachi wanted to separate us from Pervy Sage and it worked. I'm gonna need your help to take him down." Naruto said as he readied a kunai.

Gohan nodded and put two fingers to his forehead and charged up Ki.

"Wait, Gohan." Naruto said.

"What?"

"Whatever you do, don't look into his eyes. That how he traps you in his genjutsu. You do that and you'll be completely at his mercy." Naruto warned.

"Got it." Gohan replied before continuing to charge his attack. "You go at him first to distract him and I'll take him down with this."

"Alright, good plan. Just make sure that I'm out of the way before you fire it." Naruto said.

"Right."

With that, Naruto flashed stepped out of cover and made a bee line for the rogue ninja. The two of them clashed, kunai to kunai as they exchanged blows.

Gohan continued to charge up until the tips of his fingers started sparking. _'I'm ready.'_ Gohan thought to Naruto.

Naruto ducked underneath Itachi's next slash and kept his frame low.

 _'NOW!'_ He thought.

Gohan swung around the tree and fired his spiraling beam of death directly at Itatchi, the beam hit its mark, piercing Itachi in the abdomen.

Itachi then burst into a murder of crows.

"Dammit!" Gohan cursed.

The crows all flew towards Gohan and collided in front of him, transforming in Itachi who stepped right into Gohan's personal space in an attempt to get him to look Itachi in the eyes.

Gohan tried to look away, but he couldn't do it without glancing at Itachi's eyes.

He froze.

He blinked and when he opened his eyes again, Itachi was gone. Gohan looked left and right until finally he spotted Itachi 10 feet away, just standing there mocking him.

Gohan glared at Itachi. "Why are you doing this..."

"I need to capture Naruto for my organization's ultimate goal." Itachi replied.

"Why? What are you trying to accomplish?"

"What am I trying to accomplish, or what is my organization trying to accomplish?" Itachi asked.

"Your organization. What is their goal? What does Naruto have to do with this? Who are they?"

"The Akatsuki, depending on who you ask, are either a radical terrorist group of rogue ninjas or a band of heroes fighting for those who cannot. Their mission is to take control of wars and thereby create peace. To do this, they need to acquire special individuals known as jinchuriki. People such as Naruto." Itachi explained.

"A jinchuriki? What's that?"

"A living vessel that holds great Chakra demons known as Tailed Beasts inside them. The Akatsuki wishes to acquire these demons to be used as weapons to propel Akatsuki's interests forward."

Now Gohan's glare intensified. "So, you plan to achieve peace by putting fear and pain into those who are innocent. I cannot allow that."

"It is what is necessary. As is killing Naruto to extract the beast within him."

"No, it's not." Gohan said sternly. "This is not the way to peace, but to further war and bloodshed. By helping others with diplomacy, kindness, love and compassion will you obtain peace.

"You are naive." Itachi stated. "The world is not so simple that peace can be achieved through simple kindness. Force of arms is necessary."

"You're right, I am ignorant when it comes to this world. I arrived here less than a week ago from another universe, but the concept of peace is still the same, no matter where you go. My world obtained peace through the same means, this one can too."

"I envy your world for being so simple. Yet here in ours, blood must be spilt to achieve peace. The blood of thousands if needed be."

"Those are just the words of a tyrant, whose idea of peace is to rule with an iron fist. A dictatorship...by doing that, you crush the hope and spirit of those you'd kill." Gohan flashed into his super Saiyan form. "And I will not allow that. My father's legacy will not allow me to let such a thing happen. The legacy of a hero."

Gohan flared his energy to his max, powering up to his second form. "Like my father before me, I am an ally of good! And a nightmare to the likes of you!"

 _'You don't know what I am...'_ Itachi thought to himself as Gohan charged at him.

Thinking as he charged, he fired a Ki blast at Itachi's feet, creating a dust cloud in from of him.

"Gohan, what the hell are you doing?" Itachi asked.

He was met with Gohan's large fist that connected with his nose, sending him skidding across the ground like a skipping stone on water.

Gohan blasted off to give chase, quickly catching up with Itachi. He caught the rouge ninja by his leg and slammed him through a large tree, snapping it in two. Then he followed up with a barage of Ki blasts to finish what he started.

Itachi rolled with the throw and was about to dash out of the way of the Ki blasts. He desperately threw his own barrage of kunai at Gohan to try to slow him down.

Gohan stopped his barrage and deflected the Kunai with just a finger. He phased out of sight, reappearing behind Itachi and dealt a devastating blast to his back.

Itachi then exploded into smoke as another Itachi popped his head out from behind the bushes.

"Are you crazy!?" He bellowed.

"I should ask you that! You are not taking Naruto as a weapon!"

"You really are cracked! Snap out of it!" Itachi shouted.

"I'm cracked?! I'm not the one who wants to enslave the world! You say the Akatsuki wants to bring peace by using Jinchuriki as weapons, and you say I'm cracked?! This foolishness ends now, Itachi!"

"Itachi!? I'm-" Itachi shouted before Gohan shot Ki blast after Ki blast at him.

"I'M NARUTO!" Itachi shouted.

Gohan stopped and raised an eyebrow. He shook his head, no doubt another trick. "Do you really expect me to believe that? You look nothing like him."

"What?! I look like... Are you high or just under a genjutsu?!" Itachi yelled.

"I never touch drugs..." Gohan growled.

"You are under genjutsu. Freaking duh! I am such an idiot sometimes! Hold on!" Itachi called out as he made a bee line for Gohan with his arm outstretched.

 _'Wait a minute...those are Naruto's mannerisms...'_ Gohan thought as the form of Itach drew closer.

Gohan was conflicted. It looked like Itachi, sounded like Itachi, but didn't act like him. So he reached out with his senses to sense his energy. He could sense Itachi, but he wasn't in front of him. He sensed like… Naruto!

Itachi then touched Gohan's chest and sent a pulse of chakra through his body and in a flash a bruised and beaten Naruto stood in the place of Itachi.

"Oh...shit..." Gohan gasped out. "Naruto, I'm so sorry."

Naruto gasped as he tried to catch his breath.

"Sweet Sage man... I thought you we're going to kill me..." Naruto breathed out before coughing up blood and falling over.

"Shit, hang on." Gohan said as he dug out a senzu bean. He kneeled down and lifted Naruto's head gently. "Here, eat this."

Naruto looked at the pale green bean and turned up his nose. "I don't like beans..."

"Just eat it." Gohan said firmly.

Naruto obliged, imaging that it was the last bean in red bean soup and swallowed it whole.

Instantly, he felt an enormous surge of energy course through his body. He also felt his wounds heal instantly as all pain left him.

"Holy shit, I feel like I have had the best bowl of ramen and the best night of sleep ever." Naruto said.

Gohan smiled as he powered down. "Senzu bean. Best form of healing you'll ever find."

"I'll believe it, but we still have to deal with Itachi." Naruto reminded him as they both turned their attention back at the tall, dark, Akatsuki member.

"So what do we do?" Gohan asked.

"I don't know..." Naruto admitted. The two of them were backed against a wall. Every attack they had, Itachi could counter. They would need a miracle, a new strategy, they would need...

"Sasuke..." Itachi said emotionlessly at a figure standing behind the older rogue ninja. The two warriors looked harder and noticed the dark haired youth standing behind Itachi with his eyes burning red with hate.

"Itachi..." Sasuke growled, his voice was quiet, yet his emotions were crystal clear. Naruto had to do a double take. There, standing before him was the man that had haunted his dreams with fear and regret. The subject of his Promise of a Lifetime. His teammate, best friend, eternal rival, and brother.

"Sasuke..." Naruto whispered, his entire world dropping below his feet for an instant.

 **Author's Note from Panda: Hope you all enjoyed that chapter. The fourth and final chapter in this prequel will come out the same day as chapter 26 of Legacy of Heroes. All shall be revealed then.**

 **Stay tuned.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note from Panda: spoiler warning for chapter 26 of Legacy of Heroes.**

Hidden somewhere in the treetops, Videl and two of Naruto's Shadow Clones were keeping out of sight. They had awoken Videl from her genjutsu and were preventing her from going anywhere. Which only served to make Videl more and more antsy.

"Seriously, what the hell is going on?" Videl pressed.

"We told you. The boss is fighting Itachi. One of the guys from this organization that is after the boss. So we gotta stay out of sight for your safety." One of the clones repeated.

"That's not good enough!" Videl snapped. "I wasn't to give that guy a piece of my mind!"

"Videl, please. This guy is not some thug that you can smack around. This is a guy who could give Pervy Sage a run for his money. He'd kill you." The other clone stated.

"Yea right. If I had a Zenni for every time I've heard a line like that, I'd be richer than my dad." Videl scoffed.

The clone looked Videl dead in the eye, for a second she believed that she was looking at Naruto. She saw the raw concern in his eyes, the worry.

"You're serious..." Videl breathed out.

"He's evil Videl. He's evil and he's willing to do whatever it takes to get to me. To hurt anyone I care about, and I care about you." Naruto said.

Videl gasped and a blush appeared on her face. "R-really...?"

Naruto nodded. "You're my friend. I know we haven't known each other long but I consider you and Gohan to be my friends. And I won't let anyone hurt my friends." Naruto stated firmly.

Videl bit her lower lip and smiled. "Thank you..."

Naruto nodded and returned to keeping a lookout.

 _'And now somehow I feel a little jealous of Sakura.'_ Videl thought to herself before shaking off such a ridiculous thought. That's when an explosion went off far into the distance and the two clones exploded into clouds of smoke before evaporating.

"Oh no..." Videl breathed out as she ran to the area where the explosion was.

She quickly made her way to the area of the explosion and stood in awe at what she saw.

"Sasuke..." Naruto whispered. He couldn't believe his eyes. Right there in front of him was the man he had been training all these years for. The man he was supposed to save. Yet he just came out of the blue like it was nothing.

"That's him?" Gohan asked.

"Sasuke...leave here, it is still much too soon for our meeting." Itachi said emotionlessly.

That confirmed it for Gohan, yet something didn't sit right with him. Naruto looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Oh I think now is the perfect time. I'm all trained up and your crony isn't here to help you. This make it the perfect opportunity to kill you, brother." Sasuke spat.

Gohan checked out both Sasuke and Itachi's power. Itachi completely buried Sasuke in terms of power, but skill was yet to be determined.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out to his friend, hoping to get his attention.

Sasuke quickly looked over at the two intruders to his revenge. The stranger with the strong build was a wild card, but the blond idiot...

"Stay out of my way, Dobe! Itachi is mine!" Sasuke spat.

"No. You're not strong enough to fight him." Gohan said sternly

Sasuke's attention turned back to the mysterious man, whom he assumed was with Naruto.

 _'No headband. A mercenary he hired to take my back to the Leaf?'_

"Who are you to tell me what to do? Stay out of my way or I'll kill you..." Sasuke said to Gohan.

"Try it. You wouldn't be able to touch me."

"You really wouldn't." Itachi agreed.

The killing intent given off by Sasuke was palpable. Even Gohan felt a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. This wasn't about him being able to kill Gohan, it's that he would do is as easily as he would with a fly. Something annoying that stood in his way.

"Don't even try it. You won't win." Gohan warned. To assert his point, his eyes flashed teal for a moment and his energy rose.

"Then stay out of my way." Sasuke ordered as he turned back to his brother.

 _'This might work out perfectly. If I can just give my brother the slip I came say that I was outnumbered and would have been unable to capture the 9 Tails.'_ Itachi thought.

"Sasuke wait, don't fight him!" Naruto pleaded. "We can take him down together and then you can come home..."

"I said butt out, Naruto! This is my vengeance and I won't have you interfering!" Sasuke barked at his former teammate and ex-best friend. All parts from a life he had since severed to gain the power he had acquired for today. They would not hold him back now.

"You're making a mistake. I don't know what the story between you two is, but dedicating your life for revenge is foolish." Gohan said firmly

"You hired this clown to take me back to the Leaf, and you didn't even tell him about why I left? He doesn't even know about the Uchiha massacre?" Sasuke spat at Naruto.

"I'm new in town, you could say. I only met Naruto two days ago. But I know that if we all calm down we could reach a kind of consensus." Gohan said, trying to play peacemaker.

"There won't be any consensus. There is nowhere for you to butt in on. My older brother thought to slaughter our entire clan to test his strength. Only leaving me alive because I was not worth killing that day. And now, nearly 10 years to the day, I shall finish what he started and kill the only other Uchiha alive. I will avenge my clan and if you try to get in my way I will kill you like he killed my parents all those years ago!" Sasuke shouted, his eyes furious and misty from the memory of it all. Gohan could sense it. There was no light left in the boy's eyes. Only darkness and misery.

"That's only what I led you to believe." Itachi stated.

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke cried as he lunged at Itachi with his sword drawn. His Sharingan spinning, anticipating every move that Itachi could make to ensure that his blade would find its mark, all the while Itachi's Sharingan anticipated every possible way to counter attack. They clashed in a stalemate, Itachi grabbing Sasuke's forearm to stop his blade from swinging any nearer to its target. Sasuke quickly switched with his right arm charged with a Chidori he extended out into a blade. Itachi caught Sasuke's second forearm as well.

Here, their differences in experience became apparent when Itachi used his feet to kick out Sasuke's legs, bringing the younger Uchiha to his knees and his face in striking distance for Itachi's follow up kicks.

Sasuke rolled back, disarmed from his sword but not weaponless. He threw a handful of shuriken he kept sealed away in his wrist bindings and threw them point blank at Itachi, who slashed at them in an elegant dance with Sasuke's own blade that blocked all the shuriken before arcing perfectly towards Sasuke's neck. He stopped his swing right as the sword drew the blood of its owner.

"Still too weak." Itachi said emotionlessly, his words cutting deeper that a sword ever could.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted out as he and Gohan dashed to help the avenger. Itachi just looked at them with his blood red eyes opening up to swirling blackness.

 _'Amataratsu!'_ Itachi thought as black flames sprouted along the dirt, creating a wall of intense heat to separate the Uchiha's from the outsiders.

Gohan was about to fly through the flames, thinking them no more dangerous than regular flames, when he was tackled to the ground by Naruto.

"Don't touch them!"

"Why? It's just fire." Gohan replied.

"I've seen these before. Pervy Sage told me that it's called Amataratsu. The divine flames. They burn anything they touch and can never be extinguished. You touch them, you're dead." Naruto warned.

Gohan jumped back quickly. "Damn. Thanks man."

"Don't mention it. Pervy Sage taught me a few tricks to dealing with this kind of jutsu. You're supposed to seal them away, but we don't have time for anything this big." Naruto hastily explained.

"So then what do we do?" Gohan asked nervously as he noticed that the flames were starting to creep closer towards them. Swallowing up bits of grass, sticks, and rocks. Even a tiny puddle didn't seem to deter the flames. The water didn't evaporate, the flames just crawled over them as they would any other solid.

"We go around it." Naruto said. _'Or over it.'_

The blond created a single Shadow Clone at the edge of the flames. Without waiting for Gohan to voice any protest. He ran up to the clone and jumped into is intertwined hands, the clone acted like a trampoline, throwing his original up and over the black flames, just barely grazing the hungry tongues of the fire.

Gohan flew high up in the air and over the wall of flames, hovering over the two brothers as they fought to the death. Except, Itachi was winning by a landslide.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted. "Sasuke wake up!" He cried as ran over to section of grass with nothing in it. Gohan thought that Naruto was losing his mind. Did he not see the battle still going on?

"Naruto! There's no one there!" Gohan called out.

"What are you...?" Naruto shouted before the realization hit him. "Oh that's right. I keep forgetting that you're worse at genjutsu than I am." Naruto called back. He motioned for Gohan to come closer while Sasuke and Itachi traded blasts of Fireball jutsu.

Gohan flew close and Naruto put his hand on the Saiyan's shoulder.

"Release!" Naruto shouted. In a flash, the two brothers were gone and in their place was a dazed and non-responsive Sasuke left kneeling before Naruto. Like a man who had seen the face of god, or more accurately the devil.

"I gotta learn to resist that." Gohan mused as he took out another senzu bean.

"That won't work for Sasuke. Unless that thing cures illustrations." Naruto said as he tried to shake Sasuke awake.

"You mean illusions?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah that. Same thing happened the last time Sasuke met his brother. He put Sasuke under this really powerful genjutsu that poisoned his mind. He was in a coma for over two months before Granny Tsunade could cure him." Naruto said as he tried slapping Sasuke awake.

"Let me try something." Gohan offered. He held up a single finger that had the tiniest spec of Ki at the tip. He placed it to Sasuke's forehead and Gohan sent a pulse through Sasuke's body, causing him to wake up.

"Ugh..." The boy groaned like he was just coming down from the worst hangover imaginable. He looked up and saw the nervous faces of Naruto and that nosey do-gooder. Yet no Itachi in sight.

"Sasuke, you're safe now..." Naruto said.

"YAAAHHH!" He cried as he lashed out at the two with his Chidori in hand. The lightning jutsu cut through both Gohan's skin and Naruto's jacket before the two of them could back step out of the way.

"GAAH!" Gohan cried out. "What the fuck is your deal?! Is that how you treat people who revive you?!"

Sasuke got to his feet like a wild animal, looking left and right for any trace of his brother. He was so close. So fucking close!

His Sharingan scanned the horizon, looking for the faintest glimpses of- THERE! He saw the tiniest flame of Itachi's Chakra signature. He was still nearby.

Sasuke took off sprinting into the woods after him, not even bothering to pick up his sword along the way.

Naruto and Gohan quickly gave chase after him.

"Sasuke wait! SASUKE!" Naruto screamed. He was so close! So damn close!

Gohan put on a fierce look of determination and blasted ahead, cutting off the younger Uchiha in mid-flight, causing him to slam into Gohan like he slammed into a steel wall.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" Sasuke screamed.

"No!" Gohan shouted firmly.

Blind with rage, Sasuke charged at him with a Chidori aimed directly at his heart. Gohan was an experienced enough fighter to instinctively know how to grab Sasuke's arm, but that didn't mean a damn thing when Sasuke could extend the Chakra outward to pierce Gohan through the chest.

In that moment, Gohan felt a white hot pain seer though his chest as he felt himself losing consciousness. Unknown to them, a girl in the bushes saw the whole thing and screamed.

"GOHAAAAN!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Sasuke dropped Gohan to the ground where he slammed hard on the grass, completely lifeless. Videl ran to his side, tears running down her face hoping he was still alive.

"Gohan! Please be okay!" She cried as she shook Gohan in order to wake him, but he wouldn't move. "Gohan! Wake up! Don't you dare die on me!"

"Sasuke!" Naruto roared as he lunged at the crazed Uchiha who desperately tried to scamper away and resume the chase with his brother.

Videl looked at Gohan. His chest was completely still, indicating he wasn't breathing. Thinking back to her first aid classes, she checked his carotid pulse.

Nothing.

"No..." Videl cried shakily.

Naruto meanwhile tackled Sasuke to the ground and wrestled to keep him still, but the boy was frantic. He punched at Naruto who returned the blow with his own punch to the face. The two just kept exchanging blows, one after around in a desperate attempt at dominance.

But they both stopped. They had just picked up on a new, strong energy that was surging wildly and they couldn't make it out what it was.

Naruto looked back and saw that Videl was still crying over Gohan's body, but he saw a faint aura surging around her.

That gave Sasuke the opening he needed to thrust his palm up at Naruto's chin, knocking him backwards and freeing the two from their scuffle.

"No..." Videl sobbed as her aura grew more violent, storm clouds appearing overhead.

"No..." She cried again.

She picked her head up and glared at Sasuke, tears streaming down her face. "No..." She growled. "You killed him..."

She slowly stood up and walked slowly towards him, her hair braking out of her hair ties and started spiking up. "You killed him..." She growled again as her aura slowly switched to gold.

Sasuke spat out some blood and looked at her without any sense of fear or regret. "So what?"

That just enraged her more and her hair flashed from black to gold and a lightning bolt struck down next to her. "I'll kill you for that..."

Naruto looked on in awe at what he was witnessing. He knew Gohan could do that, but her? He had no idea.

"I loved him...and you killed him..." Videl growled, more lightning crashing around her as her eyes flashed back and forth from blue to teal.

With every step she took, pebbles rose up from the ground that were created by the cracks she made with every step. Her aura was completely gold now and was violently surging around her.

Sasuke wasn't intimidated, his rage only grew and grew as he could no longer sense his older brother. He had slipped through his fingers. Again.

"Grrr...SO WHAT?!" Sasuke screamed at the girl as her power continued to rise dramatically. "He got in the way of getting my revenge! That pain you're feeling! That choking, suffocating pain is what I feel EVERY DAY EVER SINCE MY BROTHER KILLED MY CLAN! NOW YOU CAN FEEL IT! JUST A FRACTION OF MY PAIN!" Sasuke screamed to the Heavens.

"You know nothing of pain..." Videl growled as she gave of a killing intent stronger than anything Sasuke had ever seen.

"NO YOU!" Sasuke screamed as he gave off a killing intent that dwarfed Videl's entirely. Her pain was great, like an immovable boulder, yet his was a mountain.

"DON'T COME IN HERE AND CLAIM LOSING YOUR DAMN BOYFRIEND MEANS JACK COMPARED TO LOSING YOUR ENTIRE FUCKING FAMILY! DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT YOUR PAIN BEING EQUAL TO MINE! YOU SPOILED BRAT!"

"I don't give a shit about you or your family of losers." She spat. Sasuke's little sob story only made her angrier. "You took away the only thing I had left! I have NOTHING NOW! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" She screamed out as her aura exploded, creating a shockwave that Naruto and Sasuke had to dig their feet into the ground just to stay standing until it settled.

Videl appeared before them, her hair completely spiked up and gold, her eyes were white with rage and her aura was surging around her violently.

"I'll smear you across the grass for what you've done." She growled demonically.

Naruto looked on in awe, as well as a bit of confusion. She had powered up greatly, but she still seemed rather weak. She was nowhere near Gohan's level.

'She wouldn't be able to do anything to him.' Naruto thought.

"No you won't." Sasuke stated as he looked into her eyes with his Sharingan again. Once again her eyes went wide before glazing over as she fainted right where she stood, her aura being snuffed out like a candle.

"Videl!" Naruto cried as he caught her before she hit her head. He carefully cradled her in his arms as he placed her down on the ground. That damned Sasuke used genjutsu on her again.

"Fucking fan girls." Sasuke spat as he stood up to try and walk away. His shouting match had calmed him down somewhat and he knew that the only logical move now would be to head back to Orochimaru's for more training. That girl and her boyfriend were the culprits of the energy surge. That would satisfy the old snake.

"Where do you think you're going!?" Naruto barked at Sasuke, his own rage boiling up from the Uchiha hurting both his friends.

"Shut up loser. Just take those two and get out of my sight." Sasuke said as he walked away. "I'm never coming back to the Leaf village. So get over it." Sasuke added.

"You are coming back home. Dead, alive or unconscious. Either way, I'm dragging your ass with me. I promised Sakura-chan I would bring you home and I plan on keeping that promise." Naruto growled.

That made Sasuke stop mid-step and turn around. "Chh, like I care about some stupid promise you made to another one of my dumb fan girls. Get it through your thick skull, dead last. She never liked you and never will. Now get over her and get over me, you loudmouthed, idiotic, demon." Sasuke spat, his words like spears being thrown at Naruto's heart.

Sasuke turned to walk away, only to feel a kunai being thrown past his cheek and embedding itself in a nearby tree. He could feel some of his hair falling away and the blood dripping down his cheek. It was on now.45rt

"You got something to say? Dobe..." Sasuke said before he was punched square in the face by Naruto and sent hurling back into a tree. He felt his skull rattle and his nose drip with blood that he wiped away. Naruto had definitely improved over the past 3 years. He was faster and quieter than Sasuke ever thought possible for the loudmouth.

"You're coming home whether you like it or not." Naruto said sternly.

Sasuke wiped away the blood dripping down his nose. "Fine. Round two then." Sasuke spat as he harnessed his Chidori into a long sword.

The two shinobi let the wind howl for a bit, neither one of them taking their eyes off of the other. A lone stick broke off from the wind, the dice was cast and the two friends charged at one another.

* * *

A mile away, a very pissed off Toad Sage sprinted through the trees.

 _'Damn substitute clone. Took me a lot longer to beat than I anticipated. Sweet Sage I'm getting old.'_ He thought as he zeroed in on his pupil's Chakra signature.

 _'Brat is still in the fight, so that's a good sign, but I can't sense Gohan or Videl though.'_

It wasn't long before he came near them when he spotted Gohan laying in a pool of blood with Videl laying nearby, a crater around her body.

 _'Damn...'_ He cursed mentally as he landed to check on Gohan. He placed a hand on his chest to see if he could sense any energy flowing through him. _'He's still alive, but barely.'_ He took out the senzu bean Gohan had given him and made Gohan swallow it, hoping that it would be enough.

He saw the hole in Gohan's chest slowly close, knowing that the bean was doing its job. He then made his way over to Videl. She was out cold, but alive.

 _'Poor girl must have taken a beating.'_ He rolled her over and saw she didn't have a scratch on her, yet she was lying in a crater.

 _'Genjutsu knocked her out. Still doesn't explain the crater.'_ Jiraiya thought as he undid the genjutsu clouding her mind.

Videl moaned and slowly woke up to find Jiraiya standing over her. "Jiraiya...?"

"What happened?" Jiraiya asked.

"I... was knocked out and then Naruto's clones kept watch over me until I woke back up. Then I heard a battle and came to check it out. Then this kid came and-" Videl stopped when she remembered about Gohan, her rage boiling over once more.

"That fucker KILLED Gohan!" Videl pointed to the boy fighting Naruto. Just seeing him made her aura erupt again as she started transforming again.

 _'So, she's one of those Saiyan's too.'_ Jiraiya thought as Videl finished transforming.

"I'll kill him..." Videl growled.

"Videl..." came a soft voice from behind her. She turned around to see Gohan alive and well.

"G-Go...han...?" She gasped out in shock.

"Videl..." He wheezed out. That chidori did more than pierce his heart, it also shocked his lungs. Making it difficult to breathe.

Tears streamed down her face as she pounced him for all she was worth.

"I thought you died...I was so scared I wouldn't see you again..." she sobbed.

The warm sensation of Videl's energy soothed his aching body, making it easier for him to breath. But what got him so stunned was the fact she was a Super Saiyan.

"Videl? You're a Super Saiyan?" Gohan asked in shock.

"I'm a what?" Videl asked as she looked down at her golden glowing form. As soon as she noticed it though, it dissipated and she was back to normal.

"H-how... how can I..." Videl breathed out in shock.

"Deal with it later. We've got bigger problems." Jiraiya said as a hundred Naruto clones charged right into Sasuke's fireball jutsu.

"We should help Naruto." Gohan declared before looking at Videl. "Can you transform again?"

"I... I don't know...I can try." Videl said with uncertainty.

"No don't." Jiraiya said firmly.

"Huh? Why?" Gohan asked.

"Just watch. You want to understand Naruto. You need to watch this." He said.

Gohan was about to protest but stopped. He nodded as he and Videl watched. Videl not moving from his arms.

 _'I don't ever want to lose him again...I never truly realized it until now, but...I can't imagine my life without him...'_ Videl thought. Unknown to her, Gohan heard every word.

 _'I guess...I do love him.._.' Videl thought. The mere notion made her chest warm up and a light blush appeared on her face.

 _'I do...I really do. Damn, my dad would be pissed if he knew.'_

Gohan heard every word she said in her mind. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't that long ago that she was trying to take him down and invade his private life. Now, he has inadvertently won this girls heart. It made him feel...good. warm and fuzzy even. He subconsciously wrapped his arms a little tighter around her, to which she accepted without hesitation.

Naruto meanwhile was in for the fight of his life.

Again and again Naruto and Sasuke clashed. Like two great storms they shook the world beneath them. For as precise as Sasuke's attacks were, Naruto's unpredictability would counter them and make Sasuke's main ability with his Sharingan all but useless. For all of Sasuke's quality jutsus, Naruto would match him with quantity of Chakra.

The two leapt back from their latest clash, preparing for their final attack.

Naruto grit his teeth and crossed his fingers, already raw from so much Chakra being pumped through them.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He cried as a thousand duplicates poofed into existence. Gohan and Videl were in awe of the seemingly endless am out of Chakra that Naruto possessed.

They all charged at Sasuke, sounding like stampede of a raging army. Yet the Uchiha kept his cool. He charged up his Chidori in his left arm again and felt his entire limb being stabbed in the nerves by the lightning Chakra running through it. But still Sasuke forced it. He didn't care. He would finish what he started beneath that waterfall and finally acquire the power necessary to kill his older brother.

The clones charged closer and Sasuke threw thousands of tiny lightning Chakra needles into the crowd. In an instant, thousands were cut down and exploded into an impenetrable cloud of smoke. The Chidori sent another wave of pain coursing through Sasuke's arm and he fell to his knee to rest.

 _'He's certainly improved.'_ Sasuke thought.

Sasuke was able to catch his breath and stood back up. When the smoke cleared, he witnessed Naruto creating a Rasengan in his right hand.

 _'Of fucking course.'_ Sasuke thought as he forced himself to stand and to summon up one last Chidori. His Chakra was dangerously low. He'd have to close one eye just to keep his Sharingan going.

Naruto sprinted at him first, his face full of determination, yet you could tell that this would be Naruto's final attack as well. Sasuke ran towards him. The two of them didn't know it, but at that moment the both of them thought about Team 7.

"CHIDORI!"

"RASENGAN!"

Both attacks collided with such force that the energy between them created a reaction, causing both of them to detonate.

 **BOOOM!**

The explosion had such force that it blew the two apart.

Naruto landed hard up against a tree, his head bashing on a knot that knocked him out.

Sasuke meanwhile was sent into a jagged boulder. He handed right on a rounded point neck first. The impact was so hard that the rock severed his cervical spin in two, snapping his spinal cord and the very end of his brain stem. Sasuke's eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body went limp.

"Naruto!" Videl and Gohan cried as they ran to check up on him.

Jiraiya meanwhile ran over to Sasuke to check him out. What he saw wasn't good.

 _'Neck is broken...'_ Jiraiya thought. He checked Sasuke's pulse and to see if any chakra was flowing. "He's dead."

Alas, no one heard him as they were busy stirring Naruto awake.

"Come on buddy." Gohan urged. He then remembered something his mom used to do to him when he wouldn't wake up to study. Knowing Naruto's favorite food, he hatched an idea.

"Hey man, if you don't wake up I'm gonna eat all this ramen."

"You bastard, you'd better save me some." Naruto said before he was fully awake.

"It's got extra pork and teryaki steak. Mmmm it smells good..." Gohan fake teased.

Then Naruto shot up and grabbed Gohan by the neck. "Gimme!"

"I don't...really have any..." Gohan wheezed.

"You better buy me some when we get back to the Leaf." Naruto growled.

"Deal." Gohan wheezed.

Naruto let go of the half saiyans neck just as he remembered something.

"Sasuke, where is Sasuke!" He cried as he looked over and saw Sasuke laying on his back as Pervy Sage knelt over him.

"Is he unconscious?" Naruto asked no one in particular as he forced himself to stand up.

"Naruto, you should rest." Videl insisted as she tried to hold him back.

"No you don't understand. This is great. I did it..." Naruto said in disbelief. There Sasuke was. Unconscious. And he, Naruto, was awake and well. With his friends beside him. Orochimaru nowhere in sight. It was perfect.

Naruto stumbled as he walked towards Sasuke.

"This is great. We can take him home, and Sasuke will be safe. Sakura will be so pleased. This'll be the best present ever." Naruto said, completely ecstatic.

Jiraiya shook his head. "He's dead..."

"We'll take him home, and team 7 will be whole again. We can laugh about this whole mess and go on missions again..." Naruto said as he drew closer and closer. Why did Sasuke's breathing seem so shallow?

"Naruto did you hear me? I said that Sasuke is dead." Jiraiya stated, the words heavy and foul tasting in his mouth.

"What are you talking about Pervy Sage? He's not dead." Naruto stated as his eyes gazed upon Sasuke's unfocused ones. His face twisted in pain and agony.

"Naruto..." Videl whispered as she stepped forward to comfort him, but Gohan held her back and shook his head. This was something he needed to realize on his own.

At that moment, Naruto was caught between two worlds. One where Sasuke was alive, and the other where he lay dead before the orange ninja. He felt the push and pull of the two realities struggling to gain control over him.

Naruto leaned forward and took Sasuke's pulse. Damn it, he was never good at this kind of stuff. He could never find a pulse, not even his own.

"He broke his neck when he landed against that rock. The explosion is what did it..." Jiraiya informed.

Naruto checked the back of Sasuke's neck. Sure enough, there were broken bones when he felt it and a void where there should be bone but wasn't.

Naruto staggered back and fell on his rear. What had he done? He only meant to bring Sasuke back home, safe and sound. Not this...

He jumped back on top of Sasuke's body and started shaking it.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP YOU BASTARD!" Naruto screamed, his voice cracking from the effort. "YOU'VE GOT TO AVENGE YOUR CLAN! TO APOLOGIZE TO SAKURA! TO COME BACK HOME AND BE BACK WITH TEAM 7! YOU'D NEVER DIE SO EASILY BEFORE SO WAKE UP!"

Sasuke didn't respond.

"WAKE THE FUCK UP YOU FUCKING BASTARD! FUCKING TEME!" Naruto cried as raindrops hit Sasuke's face.

"That's enough, Naruto!" Gohan shouted as he pulled Naruto off of Sasuke, all the while the blond was kicking and screaming.

"No-NO!" Naruto shouted. He tried kicking Sasuke's foot to get a reaction out of him, yet nothing.

"Naruto, please..." Videl pleaded. "He's gone, Naruto..." She said softly.

Naruto struggled against Gohan and Videl's hug, but his own strength started to fade...

"H-he's...gonna catch a cold if he's caught out in the rain..." Naruto stated.

"Naruto..." Videl tearfully replied. "It's not raining..."

All eyes turned to Naruto, who's cheeks were saturated from tears that wouldn't stop falling.

"I killed him..." Naruto whispered. "I killed my brother..."

"No, it wasn't your fault..." Videl said softly.

"No... no... I did it..." Naruto sobbed.

Videl just tightened her hug around him. "It wasn't your fault..."

"No, it really wasn't." Came a deep voice up in the trees.

"Itachi..." Gohan growled. The man who had started it all.

Itachi descended from the trees and went directly to his brother's corpse. Though he didn't show it, he mourned for the loss of the last of his family. "Rest easy, my brother..."

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Naruto shouted as he stood up to attack the last remaining Uchiha.

"That's enough Naruto!" Jiraiya barked, getting his student to freeze. "He's on our side!"

"Wait, what?" The trio asked in confusion.

"I am one of Jiraiya's spies to gather information on the Akatsuki for the Leaf." Itachi informed them.

"What? How could you work with a man who killed his entire family?" Gohan demanded.

"Because the Leaf council ordered me to kill my family." Itachi replied.

"Liar!" Naruto spat, earning shocked looks from Gohan and Videl. "The Leaf council would never do that."

"They did." Jiraiya confirmed.

"W-what...?" Naruto asked in shock.

Itachi sighed. "At some point in time, my clan became corrupted and were about to stage a coup to overthrow the Leaf government. The council elders, Homura, Koharu and Danzo, ordered me to kill them before they could stage their coup. I chose to leave Sasuke alive because he had nothing to do with it. He was far too young. I wanted him to become strong enough to kill me for what I was ordered to do. It pained me to kill my own family, but if I didn't, they would have done it and taken Sasuke's life. I fled the village and joined the Akatsuki after that and have been Jiraiya's informant since. We've been staying one step ahead of their plans from the get go."

That's when a realization hit Naruto. "You were the one that said the Akatsuki wouldn't be back for three years. The reason I'm on this training trip with Pervy Sage in the first place."

"Exactly. I have been giving Jiraiya all the information he needed about the Akatsuki's plans." Itachi confirmed.

"The Akatsuki are planning to extract all of the Tailed beasts from their Jinchuriki hosts to create a super weapon that would utterly throw our world into darkness. This is their vision of peace as it seems. So, we've been keeping track of all the Jinchuriki in the world and watching the Akatsuki's movements." Jiraiya added.

"So what can we do?" Gohan asked seriously.

Itachi looked at the trio and cast his genjutsu, causing them all to faint.

"What are you going to do?" Jiraiya asked.

"I'm going to alter their memories so they don't remember anything about me or Sasuke within the last 36 hours." Itachi informed.

Jirayia nodded. "Also, remove from their memories of Videl unlocking her power and see if you can't seal away what she unlocked until a certain moment in time."

"Right." Itachi replied as he got right to work altering their memories. After a short while, he was done.

"I altered their memories so that all they would remember is being in a resort hotel for a week when the pirate invasion came. They have no memory of myself or Kisame or what I told them, nor do they have any memory of Sasuke showing up." Itachi informed.

"Why a resort town?" Jiraiya asked.

"Because the town you're staying in is a shithole." Itachi said simply.

"Yeah, fair point. I guess that means that we have to move on." Jiraiya shrugged.

"They'll be out for 2 days at most. I also removed the memories of the girl's transformation. I had extreme difficulty sealing away her power. She has an incredible amount of untapped potential."

"That seems to be a thing with these two." Jiraiya agreed as he picked up Gohan and put him over his shoulder, carrying Videl and Naruto under his arms. "Are you going to take Sasuke?"

Itachi nodded. "I'm going to take him to my family's secret burial grounds. there, I will give him a proper burial."

Jiraiya nodded and turned to leave. "See you around."

Itachi nodded before picking up his brother's body.

 _'Sasuke, my brother...I wish you would've listened to me...'_ He thought before turning into a flock of crows and vanishing from sight.

Meanwhile in the shadows, a black and white man in an Akatsuki cloaked looked on at the interaction.

"It seems the young Uchiha has perished..." It whispered.

"Yeeeeesssss... Lord Madara will be displeased..."

"No matter... One less pawn off the board won't make a difference..."

* * *

Two days later, in a remote spot inside a rather stylish little hut.

Videl was the first to wake up, with what seemed like the worst hangover ever.

"Ugh...no more doubles before bed..." She groaned. She looked around the rather lavish room, Gohan sleeping next to her and Naruto in an adjacent bed.

 _'Holy crap. How much did I drink last night? I do not remember going to sleep here...'_ She thought. The last thing she did remember was her, Gohan and Naruto all winning big at the roulette table with Jiraiya sitting nearby laughing with two call girls on either arm.

Gohan was the next to wake up, with the same headache.

"Jesus...never drinking again..." Gohan groaned.

"Gohan?" Videl said to get his attention. He looked over and for some reason remembered seeing Videl in a stripper's cowgirl outfit.

"Ugh, what happened last night?" He asked while pinching his nose to cover his nose bleed.

"I don't know...you don't happen to have anything to do with this, do you?" Videl growled.

"Uh...you don't remember last night?" Gohan asked.

"Why? Oh God! We didn't do anything, did we?!" Videl exclaimed, subconsciously covering up her lady parts.

"Do what?" Naruto yawned as he woke up from the yelling

"Naruto. You we're there, what happened last night?" Videl asked hesitantly.

Naruto though back and remembered all the money the won and lost on blackjack. He and Gohan were wearing tuxedos, Videl was in some kind of sparkling ruby red dress with a long gown and plenty of leg to show off. Then these ladies in really skimpy kunoichi outfits came by and wrapped their arms around Naruto and Gohan.

"I do not remember." He said, remembering Videl's temper after that.

Videl sighed. " I wish I could remember...wait, what about when we got back to our room?"

That's when they heard a quick knock from the front door and in walked Jiraiya carrying four plates of scrambled eggs and grilled fish.

"Oh good, you three are up. I was worried that I'd have to eat these myself and ruin my girlish figure." Jiraiya teased as he set the plates down on a nearby table.

"Yea right. My Sexy Jutsu is better."

"Your...what?" Videl hesitantly asked.

"What? It was a joke." Jiraiya said.

"No, I mean what Naruto said." Videl clarified.

"You mean my Sexy Jutsu? I... really don't think you wanna see that." Naruto said hesitantly.

"Why not?" Videl asked with curiosity.

"Yeah, show her Naruto. It's, in my mind, your greatest ever self-taught jutsu." Jiraiya encouraged.

"Um...I really don't think I should..."

"Just show me." Videl said sternly.

"Alright..." Naruto sighed. If he was gonna go out. He might as well go out with a prank. He leapt out of his bed and made a single hand sign.

"Sexy Jutsu!" He shouted and was immediately covered in smoke.

In his place stood a naked blond woman with huge tits, an hour glass figure, blond pigtails, and an ass you could bounce quarters off of.

Gohan fell over backwards with a nose bleed, passed out.

Jiraiya couldn't stop drooling and Videl just rolled her eyes.

"That's supposed to pass of as hot?" She deadpanned.

This got confused looked from Jiraiya and Naruto.

"Come again?" Jiraiya asked.

"Look, if you really want it to be sexy, you need to change it up a bit." Videl started. "First off, the boobs are all wrong. they shouldn't sit up that high unless you had a massive boob job. They should be more tear drop shaped. Also, your waist and legs, far too skinny and your abdomen looks like you just got squeezed in a vice. Do I look like that?"

Naruto, or Naruko in this case, looked at Videl who was wearing her sports bra and spandex shorts. She had a point. Her figure was completely different than what he transformed into.

"That transformation is kinda insulting. No woman could possibly look like that without being anorexic." Videl lectured.

Jiraiya looked on with absolute shock. Was Videl really giving Naruto instructions on how to perfect a perverted jutsu?

"See my legs? They're toned and full, not super skinny. My waist is the proper size and my abdomen is proportionate to my hips, narrowing in slightly. I'm a size 36 bust and mine don't sit up that high."

Naruto was standing there taking notes.

"Why are you giving him advice?" Jiraiya asked.

"Hey, I'm a girl who's comfortable with my sexuality and my body. I can see this as a pretty good distraction technique." Videl shrugged. "Now, with all of that in mind, try it again." Videl instructed.

Naruto did so and this time transformed into a blond haired version of Videl with pig tails and Naruto's whiskers.

"There ya go, that's much better." Videl praised, then she heard a thud. She turned aorund to see Jiraiya laying on the floor with the biggest shit eating grin and blood pouring out of his nose.

Gohan woke up for a moment to see the new version of Naruto's jutsu and sprayed blood out of his nose before passing out again.

"See? The guys will drop like flies with that now." Videl smirked.

Naruto undid the transformation and had a beaming smile. "Wow, thanks Videl! I gotta say, I half expected you to pound me."

"Who said I wouldn't?" Videl smirked as she cracked her knuckles.

"You can strike me down, but others will rise in my place!" Naruto said as he gestured towards both Jiraiya and Gohan still laying in pools of their own nosebleeds.

"And I'll punch them as well." Videl said before cocking her fist back and slamming her fist into Naruto's nose, sending him crashing to the floor.

 _'I can die happy.'_ Gohan thought as he regained consciousness, although he couldn't remember why...

"What did you say..." Videl growled.

"Say what? I didn't say anything." Gohan defended.

Videl smirked. "Yea, you better keep it that way."

"Hey Videl!" Naruto called to gain her attention. " Reverse Sexy Jutsu!" He shouted and transformed again.

This time he transformed into a naked Gohan with Naruto's blond hair and whiskers.

Videl's eyes went wide and her nose sprayed blood. She fell over and passed out after she let out a girlish squeal.

"What the hell is that!?" Gohan cried.

"Reverse Sexy Jutsu. I used you as a reference." Naruto smirked.

"So... many...muscles..." Videl said with a grin on her face, still knocked out.

"Well someone has a muscle fetish." Jiraiya mused.

"Better keep that in mind Gohan." Naruto teased slyly

"S-shut up!" Gohan exclaimed in embarrassment, but it was about to get worse.

"So... big...and... hard..." Videl said again, causing Gohan to go completely red in embarrassment, Naruto and Jiraiya burst out laughing.

"Well, enough of this foolishness." Jiraiya sighed. It was time to set his plan in motion.

His mood then turned serious. "Naruto, I have some info you're not going to like."

That's when the house began to rumble.

 **"Will you get these brats out of me! (Ribbit!)"** The walls bellowed.

"What was that?" Gohan asked.

"Oh that. That's just Gamaterrance throwing a fuss again." Jiraiya explained.

"Oh. Well get on with it." Naruto pressed.

"Right...well I just got word through my spy network. Sasuke confronted Itachi a year ago." Jiraiya stated.

"What...?" Naruto replied.

"They clashed, but Sasuke lost...not just lost, but killed. Itachi killed Sasuke."

"You...you're not serious..." Naruto stated.

"Very." Jiraiya said, completely serious.

Gohan and Videl felt the temperature in the room drop 20 degrees.

"And you confirmed this?" Naruto asked.

"Yes I did. Several sources all told me the same story. Not even Orochimaru is that good at covering his tracks. I'm sorry, Naruto." Jiraiya said sadly. It tore him up to give to tell his pupil this news. In more ways than one.

Naruto just grew silent, he stood up and walked across the room.

"So it was all for nothing." He said before angrily kicking over the kitchen table and storming out of the frog hut.

 **"My furniture! Ribbit!"** Gamaterrance shouted as Naruto briskly walked outside.

Gohan and Videl followed quickly behind him.

"All these years, all of the searching, the training, it was for fucking nothing!" Naruto yelled as he punched a hole through a tree.

"What the hell am I going to tell Sakura. I promised her I'd bring him back..." Naruto cried.

"I'm promised her, I PROMISED MYSELF!" He cried.

"Naruto..." Videl whispered as she tried to comfort him, but he slapped her hand away.

"Videl, I'm sorry but I want to be alone." Naruto said firmly

"Naruto, we're you're friends." Videl pleaded.

"I know...but I just... I just need a damn minute..." Naruto choked out.

Gohan urged Videl away to give Naruto some space. She wanted to protest, but knew it was the best thing to do right now. So the two walked away, sad for their friend.

Naruto just sat down on a nearby tree trunk to look at the lake. Seeing the light reflecting off the sunrise, he couldn't help but think about his once best friend.

 _'Sasuke, I'm sorry...'_ Naruto thought to himself.


End file.
